Worlds Apart
by Catnatural
Summary: Sam and Dean discover Adam's existence through John's journal. This is set during Season 2, so John's already dead. The three Winchesters get to know each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Worlds Apart.**

**A/N: ****Hiiiiiiii! I'm back with the Supernatural fics! I was away for a while writing Charmed ones, but here's the one with Adam I've been wanting to write for ages! There's slowly more Adam stories appearing on this site, but we need more!**

** Right, this is **_**completely **_**AU…well, kinda. Sam and Dean find Adam but not how they do in the series, and I've set this fic in season 2, so John's dead and (I hope I got this right), Sam would be about 23, Dean would be about 27 and Adam would be 16…I think….**

** Little competition if anyone's interested….every chapter title is a song title, see if you can guess which one =P I'll try and pick some well-known ones, but some songs might just fit better than others, so a lot will probably be small British bands =D. (The title of this fic 'Worlds Apart' is from an awesome British band called Twenty Twenty).**

…**.**

**Chapter 1 – I'm Not Okay (I Promise).**

"Dean?" Bobby demanded, bringing the now eldest Winchester back to reality. "This ain't healthy, boy. You an' Sam, yer dad's gone and you two ain't talking. All I'm sayin' is-"

"Yeah, I know, Bobby. I just…dunno what to do. I'm supposed to protect him, you know? Always have, but dad dyin', it's just a never-ending list of people we've lost, and you know what Sam's like." Dean admitted, running his hands through his spiky hair.

"It still ain't healthy. You've been here nearly two week and he's hardly spoke. Hell, you've hardly spoken a word to each other since…" he trailed off as he stumbled into the kitchen in a daze, paused, then continued walking towards the fridge where he hunted for something that wouldn't clog up his arteries. He snorted humourlessly when he found nothing but beer, pizza and pie.

"Sammy?" Dean asked, concern for the youngest Winchester increasing when Sam flinched, "You ok?"

Sam nodded and turned to Bobby, "Uh, can I use your library?"

"Sure ya can, boy. Yeh don't even need to ask. What is it ya want? I'll help ya look." The older man offered. _Might get him to open up that way._

Sam shook his head wearily. "No, thanks. Just want to check something." He mumbled, dragging his feet towards the study.

Bobby swung round to glare at Dean, "Well, get goin' boy! Go help him look fer whatever it is, give you two a chance to talk!"

Dean smirked and trailed off after Sam as Bobby rolled his eyes and muttered to himself, "Those Winchester's are the biggest pair of idgits I've ever known!"

…

Sam swore loudly as the fourth book he flicked through provided useless. He tossed it onto the desk and pulled an enormous, dusty book out from the third shelf entitled _Decades of Demons_.

"Sammy, if you wanted a bit of light readin', all you had to do was ask!" Dean grinned momentarily, and then frowned as his comment had absolutely no effect on Sam who was _**still **_flicking through the giant book.

"Sammy?"

No answer.

"Sam?"

Still no answer.

"Come on! This has gotta stop! You can't ignore me forever you know!"

Sam's head snapped up as he glared at his older brother, who exclaimed, "It's alive! Hallelujah!"

"I'm not ignoring you." He snapped.

"Uh, yeah you are. You've hardly said one word since we came to Bobby's. Sam…it's not good to grieve in this-"

"And what would you know about that, Dean?" Sam yelled, standing up, his face contorted with rage. "Mom died when you were _**four**_! And I lost Jess as well! And now…now dad's gone! And who _**knows**_ how many more people are going to die after-"

"Freakin' hell, Sammy! Calm down! I miss mom, and I know you don't remember her, but I do and she loved us both _**so**_ much and I'm _**sorry **_that I never got to know Jess, but I know she loved you, Sam-"

"What the hell's that got to do with anything?" Sam exploded. "I'm trying to find what the hell went on in that hospital, Dean, and you're standing there, making jokes like always! It's what you do instead of showing your feel-" Sam was interrupted by Dean grabbing him and pulling him into a bear hug. "Gerroff me, Dean!" he protested, attempting to escape from his brother's strong arms.

…

That night was the first night of undisturbed sleep the boys had had in weeks, and they woke to the aroma of bacon and eggs wafting up the stairs.

Dean drooled, "Aw, man! I love you Bobby!" He shouted joyfully, bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen where the hunter stared at him incredulously.

"You bang yer head or somethin', boy? Where's Sam?"

"Sleepin'. We had a chick-flick moment last night and it really took it outta him," he grinned mischievously as said Winchester stumbled into the room, still in his pyjamas and his hair sticking out everywhere.

"M-m-mornin'." He yawned, as the phone rang in the hallway. Sam offered to get it, leaving Bobby to serve breakfast and Dean to sit and drum his fingers impatiently off the table as he did so.

As they were eating, Dean turned to Bobby and lowered his voice, "I have this theory. I haven't told Sam though, wanted to run it by you first…I think dad made a deal and that's why I'm not six feet under and pushing up daisies. It makes sense."

Bobby nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds like John. Why haven't you told Sam?"

"I-I can't. Knowing that dad coulda died for me…he might hate me and I couldn't stand that, Bobby. I've always looked out for him since I carried him outta that fire- with the exception of Stanford…" he stopped as Sam returned, a look of confusion and concentration on his face. "Sammy?"

"Huh?" Sam blinked.

"What's up? Who was on the phone?"

"Doctor from a couple of weeks ago. He said he found dad's journal, well, he thought it was some freaky ass satanic thing. It was in dad's stuff, and he's just found it. It might help us with what happened…"

"Yeah." Dean nodded in agreement, and then took a deep breath. "Hey…uh, Sam? C'mere a minute and sit down. Uh…I was just talkin' to Bobby and…"

…

"You think dad made a deal?" Sam whispered hoarsely.

"I'd bet on it. It's the only thing that makes sense. He was acting all weird before…I mean, he asked you to get that stuff from Bobby's…"

Sam simply stared, his mouth open in shock.

"Sammy…? Say somethin', kiddo." Dean demanded.

"Why didn't you tell me this before? He asked, finally finding his voice.

"I-I thought you'd hate me…"

"Hate you? Dean, I could never hate you! You're my big brother, and I love you."

"Right, that's enough o' that, before either of yeh starts bawling yer eyes out!" Bobby intervened. "Now, let's go get that journal."

…

Dean grabbed the journal from Doctor Bennett's hands and frantically flicked through it, whilst Sam glared at him and apologised continuously and thanked the doctor. When he'd left, Sam turned to Dean and was about to lecture him on his bad manners when said brother demanded in a monotone, "You drive. I read."

Sam opened and closed his mouth a few times before rolling his eyes and muttering to Bobby, "I give up!"

….

They were about ten or so miles from the hospital, when Dean suddenly shrieked (yes, shrieked, like a little girl), "Holy Led Zeppelin's underpants! You have _**got **_to be kidding me!"

Sam slammed on the brakes, and as Bobby held on to the back seat for dear life, Sam pulled the Impala over to the side of the road and turned to face Dean, his brow furrowed in anger. "Explain."

"Dude! There's an entry here from 1990!"

"So…?" Sam frowned, looking at Bobby who simply shrugged.

"Don't interrupt me! It says…I can't read the _**actual **_month and that…but: '1990, Adam Milligan', then there's a hospital and a weight….like a baby's weight…"

"A baby's weight?" Sam repeated in confusion. _Why the hell is there a baby's weight in dad's journal?_

"Yeah and there's a bit after 'Milligan', in brackets it's got our surname with a question mark, then Windom…wherever the hell that is."

"Dean…that's a birth record."

"A birth- holy cow, Sammy! Does that mean that this kid…?"

"Yeah, Dean. I think that this Adam Milligan's our little brother."

…

**A/N: ****Well, there you go. I hope you enjoyed it! This is just chapter 1, and I'm not sure how many there's going to be. Please review, I'd love to know what you think, if you have any criticisms or anything =).**

**P.S. I think I'll give the answer at the end of every chapter… 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise)' is by My Chemical Romance.**

**P.P.S And for anyone who's wondering 'idgits' is pronounced 'eejits'. Bobby says it wrong. It's a Scottish word (I think) and I live there =P.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ****Hey! Not much to say really….odd =P Updates might be a bit slow for a while as I'm starting back at Uni on the 13****th**** and I work evenings, but I've got the weekends off! Well, anyhoo, here's chapter 2!**

…

_**Chapter 2 – Stranger in a Strange Land.**_

The two Winchesters and Bobby spent the next couple of days finding out everything they could about Adam Milligan. When their research mounted to only half a sheet of A4, Dean declared that maybe it was time they went to Adam's home town to ask a few questions, then maybe eventually meet the kid.

They started at a local bar. After all, it'd been an extremely long day for all three men, and as Dean explained to Sam, 'everything makes sense, when you've got a beer in ya!' Rick the bartender said that he knew who the kid was, but since he wasn't old enough to 'legally' drink (Dean snorted loudly at that), he hadn't had the pleasure of meeting him properly yet. Old Mrs Smith purred that Adam was a sweet little boy, who had never been in trouble, which was 'unusual with children these days'. This seemed to be an opinion held by basically _**everyone **_who knew the kid, and Dean was starting to think of him as a mini Sam clone when the old woman went silent and whispered, "Shame what happened to his mother though."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked politely.

"She was murdered, the poor dear. Only last week. Young Adam came home from school and discovered the body, the poor child. Well, that's what I managed to get out of him and the police. I offered him a place to stay here, but he was determined to find his father…although, he's lucky if he sees him a couple of times a year."

After thanking Mrs Smith, and refusing her offer of a cup a tea _**again**_, Sam, Dean and Bobby began the waiting game. They'd trail Adam for a few days to see if his mother's death was supernatural related or not, and if the kid truly was a Winchester…

….

Adam frowned as the shiny black Impala pulled down to a stop outside his mom's house. _Dad has a car like that_, he thought, _maybe…_

He too, slowed down to a complete stop as close to the car as he dared, noticing that instead of his dad, there were three other men in the car – a young, tall one, and a stockier build slightly older one and a much older man wearing a baseball cap sitting in the back. And they were all staring intently at his mom's house.

Confusion mounted in him…then fear. Then he pushed that all down, and letting himself fill up with courage, he strode up to the Impala and banged his fist off the window.

Adam took big deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down as the window slowly rolled down and a man, a few years older than himself stared at him.

"Yeah?"

"_**Who are you**_?" Adam demanded in a panic…_Could these guys have had something to do with what happened to my mom?_

"'scuse me?" The older man growled, his eyes narrowing at the scrawny youth who furiously held his stare.

"Dean! Don't be so rude! Ask him where-" Another voice piped up from inside his dad's car.

"Kid, do you know where Adam Milligan lives?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to hug him!" The man spat sarcastically.

"Dean!" Another voice boomed from the back of the car. After a bit of a scuffle and a variation of curses, the back window rolled down and an even older man was gazing at him as if he was something in a cage at a zoo. This man was the definition of odd – a cap was planted firmly on his greying hair and he looked as if he was quite mean – until he grinned and apologised, "Don't ya mind him, Thinks he owns the place. Could ya help us out?" Bobby's smiled slipped off his face as the teenager stared at him then demanded again, "_**Who are you**_?"

"Oh! I'm Bobby Singer and the idgit yeh spoke to is Dean and Sam's in here too." Bobby smiled.

That had no effect on Adam who demanded again in a panic, "What do you want with me?"

"You're Adam?" The guy…(Bobby?) asked, looking him up and down. The scrutinising made Adam extremely uncomfortable to say the least.

"Yeah. So what do you want? I'll call the Police!" he tried to back away slowly, fear portrayed on his young face.

"Whoa! Calm it Janet!" The one called Dean laughed, "We ain't gonna hurt ya! We're your brothers!"

Adam's mouth dropped comically. "My-my-no! I don't have _**any**_-you're lying! _**They **_made you do this, didn't they? Whoever…my mom…it's not funny!" his voice broke and he growled in frustration as he ran into the house, slamming the door so had it nearly bounced off the hinges.

"That went well," Sam sighed.

"No need to point out the obvious, Samantha." Dean groaned at how he had treated Adam.

"Well, what did you have to talk to him like that for? His mom's just died and he's just a…oh no." Sam's face paled rapidly and he murmured sadly, "He's not gonna know about dad…is he?"

…

Adam sunk to the floor, barely able to see from the tears that were blurring his vision and threatening to fall. _Those guys __**couldn't **__be serious…he didn't __**have **__any brothers! He was his mom's 'special little guy' and now…_he broke off that train of though straightaway and furiously wiped his face on his sleeve. He jumped when there was a tentative knock on the front door where Adam was resting, and a voice called out, "Adam? My name's Sam, can we please come in? We really have to talk to you, it's about dad-"

Sam was interrupted by the door being thrown open until he was staring into his little brother's eyes. "Hey."

"Prove it."

"Sorry?"

"You say that you're my brothers. So prove it."

Sam stared at Adam, who was portraying this 'I-don't-care-look' but he knew that the kid was only acting brave – that this façade he'd erected, that wasn't the true Adam.

"How?" Sam was puzzled.

"I don't know! Find some photos! Get my dad on the phone! I got a bone to pick with him anyways, I needed him and he-" Adam sighed wearily.

"Maybe later…" Sam muttered thoughtfully, his eyebrows furrowed and a frown on his face. Then suddenly his face lit up like the fourth of July and he exclaimed, "Missouri!"

….

Dean glanced in the mirror at the occupants in the back seat – Bobby was snoring as loud as a swarm of bees in a loud speaker, a trail of drool on his chin and Adam was staring intently out of the window, not blinking, and a slight scowl on his face as the trees passed in a blur.

"Why we going to Missouri?" The kid mumbled.

"The person, not the place."

"You what?" he demanded incredulously.

Dean tried not to snigger at the look on Adam's face – but it was kind of hard – the kid was damn hysterical and they'd only know him for a few hours. "Missouri. She's a _**really **_old friend of dad's, she does like fortune telling and she's a psychic. She'll be able to prove that you're out-£

"A psychic? Holy- you don't believe in _**that**_, do you? You're like…thirty or something!" The kid's eyes widened comically.

"Kid," Dean began slowly, trying not to lose his patience with the boy, "If you're a Winchester, you'll believe in all kinds of-"

"Nuh uh, Dean. We'll talk about _**that **_later, 'k?" Sam interrupted, a fierce glare on his face as he dared his older brother to challenge him.

….

Missouri opened the door before the guys had even stepped out of the car.

"Boys! I haven't seen you in ages! Did you forget about me or somethin'? I oughta hit you on the head with my spoon!" She shouted gleefully as a way of greeting. "Dean!" She cried, pulling the eldest Winchester into her arms and then doing the same with Sam. She grew serious, "I heard about your daddy and I'm sorry- oh hello there! You must be baby Winchester!"

Adam visibly jumped, then arranged his face into a scowl as he muttered under his breath, "Milligan, _**not **_Winchester", however, it was loud and clear.

"Aw, hey. I know you want proof boy, and I know photos are what you want, but the boys don't have many, and they'll tell you why one day." The psychic sympathised as she held out her hand and touched Adam's. Her face grew sad, and it looked so out of place on the normally jolly woman's face, "Hey…don't worry, ok? They'll love you no matter what. I know you want proof-"

"So…can…can you give me some?" Dean and Sam were surprised to see the usual scowl off Adam's face, and replacing it was a fearful, worried expression.

Missouri smiled at the youth as she explained, "I'm going to try and give you a memory from Sam and Dean, ok? Don't speak until it's over…" Missouri closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Adam's hand until he was suddenly standing inside a motel room with two little boys – one of whom was gazing at the TV with his mouth open. Adam stepped as near to him as he dared and called out. When there was no reply he waved in front of the kid's face. Just as he wondered how Missouri had pulled this off, the older boy stood up.

"_Sammy!" he snapped, "Stop watching TV and do your homework!"_

_Sammy stuck out his tongue. "Already done it when you did tea, Dean! Bet you've not done yours yet!"_

"_Th-that;s not the point! You're eight, Sam!"_

"_And you're twelve, Dean! You're not my dad! I can do it myself!" The younger one looked like he was about to cry until there was the sound of a key turning in the door, and a man stumbled through it, seemingly buried under a pile of groceries._

_ "Daddy!" Sam squealed as his dad dropped his shopping to the floor, and pulled both his kids into a hug. He smiled upwards giving Adam the perfect opportunity to see his face…_

"Dad…?" Adam whispered. _There's no doubt about it…that was dad, a few years younger…and these guys are my brothers…_Adam's mid swirled with a flurry of questions, and eventually he opened his mouth and the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "Why were you living in a motel?"

"Uh…story for another time, perhaps?" Bobby intervened, seeing Sam and Dean's flummoxed expressions.

Adam simply nodded slowly as Missouri grinned, "Congratulations, boy! You're a Winchester!"

…

Bobby was talking to Missouri in the kitchen, leaving the three Winchesters in the living room, spread out on the psychic's odd selection of armchairs, silence heavy in the air.

Dean stared pointedly at Sam who was watching Adam with a frown on his face, as if trying to figure him out. Adam, on the other hand, was glancing about Missouri's living room in some interest until Sam interrupted him.

"Hmm?"

"I said, 'what are you planning to do'?"

"About what?"

"Well…you're only sixteen and well…"

"I've got no other family, and I am _**not **_going into care, ok?" Adam's voice got slightly louder.

"Hey, calm down. I never said you were! Um…would…you could stay with us…if…if you like." Sam offered awkwardly as a small smile jumped onto to Adam's face momentarily.

"Really? Are…are you sure? You're not just saying that cos you're family, are you?" Adam hesitated.

"No! We really do want to get to know you-"

"Really?" Adam repeated. "You just met me and-"

"For God's sakes, Adam!" Dean finally exploded. "_**Yes**_, we _**do**_ want to get to know you and _**yes**_, we _**do**_ want you live with us…if you want to."

"Why don't you like me?" Adam frowned as his oldest brother glared at him…yet again.

"I-what?" Dean looked genuinely surprised.

"You've been angry with me since you got me…why? What did I do?"

"I'm not angry _**with **_you…as such…I'm angry at Dad for not telling us about you…we had to find out from a freakin' book!"

"A diary? Can I read it sometime? Wait… You didn't know about me…at all?" Adam's voice dropped as he stared incredulously at his brothers.

"It's a journal, and…one day, we'll show you it. And Adam, we only found out about you a couple of weeks ago-" Sam proceeded to explain, but was interrupted by Adam standing up and demanding, "So…he _**never**_ told you about me? About my mom? Was he _**ashamed **_of us or something? Was I…was I a mistake or-"

"Whoa, kiddo." Dean stopped the youth mid-rant. "We don't know what he was thinking, but he wasn't ashamed of you. It seems we got you at the right time…we heard about your mom-"

"No! Just…just…" Adam's voice broke off as he stared at a random spot on the wall.

"How did it happen?" Dean continued, this time in a much softer tone.

"I-I came home from school a-and…" he gulped. "I don't wanna talk about this." He growled and stormed out of the house. Once he was outside Missouri's gate, he realised he had absolutely _**nowhere **_to go, he felt extremely unsafe in his mom's house…what if whoever killed her came back from him? He sighed in frustration, and then he caught the Impala lurking out of the corner of his eye, which resulted in his lips slightly turning upwards. _Home_, he thought, then jumped. _Where did __**that**__ come from? Well…I suppose it's like my home…I went everywhere in it with my dad…wonder why he didn't come and get me with Sam and Dean…doesn't he love me?_

…**..**

**A/N: ****Chapter title is by 30 Seconds to Mars! =) I had to end that fic on some Adam angst….**

**P.S. I got some reviews last time saying I need to work on the characters expressions etc, I hope I managed to improve? **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ** **I'm so sorry! My Gran was in hospital, (She's ok now though, thankfully!) and I literally got snowed under with Uni work! . Stupid! Finally finished my history essay, but I've still got to finish my Criminology essay and my Deviance portfolio…and then I've got exams in 2 weeks! Weirdly enough though, that's when my brain decides to work and I get loads of ideas for my fics!**

**Oh, and I've got into so many extra things this year! I got introduced to Glee (Love Sam and Kurt!) and Fullmetal Alchemist (Love Ed!). And the new MCR album is AWESOME! =D**

**Uh….all I'm gonna say about this chapter, is that Adam finds out the biiiig family secret…you know the one I mean!**

**Enjoy! =)**

**P.S. Gonna see the new Harry Potter movie this week! So excited! Can't wait to see Draco and Ron on the screen! =P**

…

**Chapter 3 –Weight of the World.**

Dean threw open the door to the bedroom that the youngest Winchester was currently using and was about to yell, "Up at at 'em, kiddo!", or "Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!", when he realised said kid was still sleeping; curled up in a ball, his fringe obscuring his eyes as he breathed deeply. Dean grinned, it was sure nice to see Adam at peace, and not glaring at them, or looking extremely awkward and out of place in Bobby's home. He couldn't really blame the kid. The brotherly bonding hadn't really been going too well. Anytime Dean tried to have a conversation with Adam, he just nodded or shook his head, often shrugging his shoulders. He was the same with Sam. And he looked…terrified of Bobby.

He sighed deeply then proceeded to wake up Adam when the boy screwed up his face and started muttering. Not really hearing what was said, but having had enough experience with Sam to know a nightmare when faced with one, he stepped up to Adam and shook him lightly by the shoulder. "Hey, kid?"

Adam started moving his head slightly, and his eyes rapidly darted from side to side under his eyelids as he mumbled, "_**No…leave her…mom!**_" He sprung up from his bed, panting heavily, sweat pouring down his face like a river.

"Adam?"

Adam jumped and turned to face Dean as he tried to catch his breath. "What-" He cleared his throat. "What's wrong, Dean?"

"You tell me, kiddo. That was some nightmare you were having."

"N-nightmare?" Adam stuttered, looking utterly bewildered.

"Yeah. You were calling out for your mom…" Dean broke off as the colour faded from his youngest brother's face and he gulped. "Adam?"

"Yeah…uh…bad dream." Adam averted his eyes from Dean's, and stared at his own hands.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The older man asked gently.

"N-no…thanks…"

"Uh…Adam?" Dean began after a long awkward silence. "Me and Sam have gotta go some place today…do you wanna stay with Bobby or-"

"Can…can I come with you?" Adam asked warily. "Only…only if you don't mind."

"No! Of course we don't mind…it's just…there's gonna be a few rules…you have to do _**exactly **_what we say, even if there's something you don't understand. Ok, Adam?" Dean ordered, glaring at his younger brother, wishing that he hadn't agreed to this.

Adam looked baffled, but nevertheless, he slowly nodded.

…

"Right, Adam." Dean commanded, turning round to face Adam in the back seat of the Impala. Adam who had been staring intently into space, jumped, and focused on Dean instead. "Ground rules: if we tell you to run, you run. If we tell you to hide, you hide. If we tell you to-"

"Dean! Stop, you're scaring him!" Sam shrieked, and Adam did indeed look absolutely terrified.

"I'm guessing this isn't what I'd call a 'normal' family day out?"

"Nope." Dean smirked humourlessly. "Right, college-boy, what do we know?"

Sam glared menacingly at Dean, but opened up his laptop anyway. "Over the past couple of weeks, groups of campers have been going missing-"

"Campers?" Adam interrupted. "Are we going camping?" _Huh. Doesn't sound too bad. Nothing dangerous about camping…unless you get bitten by a bear or something, I suppose…_

"Uh…well, Adam…you see, we're going to find them. It's our jobs." Dean explained slowly, trying not to reveal too much.

"I thought you guys were mechanics? Are you like the FBI or something in disguise? That's so _**cool**_! How much do you get paid?" Adam looked and sounded like a little kid high on sugar.

"We don't get paid. It's more of a…hobby, I guess."

"You don't get paid?" Adam's voice rose. "But how do you afford stuff?"

"Pool and credit card scams." Dean grinned as Adam's jaw dropped comically and he demanded incredulously, "You're not serious?" _Looks like Adam's always going to be a laugh in a bad situation…thank god._

"Oh, I am."

"So…_**why**_ are we going to find these campers?"

"Because they're _**missing**_, Adam."

"But why…"

"We'll talk later, ok? Are you absolutely _**sure **_you wanna do this. Adam? You can back out at any time."

"No. I wanna help! But-"

"If you've got more questions, can they wait until after we've…found the campers?"

Adam frowned, "I guess so."

…..

An hour later, and all three men were trudging through the woods, the youngest complaining loudly.

"I don't get this! This is a job for the cops! Why do we need to walk-" he broke off as Dean put up a hand and whispered, "Ssh."

"No! Don't tell me to-"

"Adam!" Dean hissed fiercely, "Seriously, _**please**_, be quiet!"

Adam's eyes widened and he froze on the spot in fear as a distant howl echoed through the forest. It didn't seem to far from where they were standing.

"D-Dean?" he stuttered. "W-what w-was that?"

"Ssh, kiddo." He warned, his eyes darting around as he attempted to locate the direction of the sound. He turned to Adam after a moment when he heard him audibly gulp.

"Adam?" he whispered.

"D-D-D," Dean and Sam followed to where Adam was pointing.

"Wh- I don't see…" he was cut off as… _**something**_… stumbled through the undergrowth and suddenly it was towering _**over **_his youngest brother, breathing it's putrid breath onto the face of the youth. Without even a moment of hesitation, he yanked Adam out of harm's way, out of the direct eyeline of the-

"Wendigo." Sam breathed.

"Aw crap." Dean swore.

Adam simply gawped.

…...

Adam was about to take a step back when Dean clutched his shoulders and muttered, "Don'."

"What _**is **_that thing?" he hissed.

"A Wendigo."

"A _**what**_?" Adam shrieked, then yelled as Dean smacked him round the head. "What was _**that **_for?"

"You've attracted its attention! Just…stay quiet, ok? It likes to keep its victims alive to feed off, so it won't kill you. It could kidnap you though, so just-"

"_**Kidnap me**_? That…thing…" Adam gulped.

"We'll talk later, ok? Just slowly step back." Dean whispered, "_**Don't**_ yell and _**don't **_make _**any **_sudden movements…Sammy?"

"I'm on it!" Sam quickly, but quietly rummaged through the backpack and pulled out what looked like a deformed fire extinguisher, and suddenly the thing erupted up in flames.

Dean sighed in relief, and as the thing screamed in pure agony, both brothers turned to Adam who was staring at them in pure horror.

"Hey…" Dean attempted to break the kid out of his trance by waving in front of his face. "…Kid?"

"_**What the freakin' hell**_?" Adam suddenly exploded, as his fists unconsciously clenched.

"Uh…well, that was a Wendigo, Adam." Sam explained.

"A Wen… a what?"

"Wendigo. It once human and it keeps its prey alive, feeding off it slowly until it dies. You should be glad it didn't kidnap you." Sam sighed in relief.

The two brothers stared at Adam as he seemed to be fighting an internal battle with himself, trying to conjure the right words, and then: "It was a person."

"Sorry…what?" Dean and Sam jumped. The words Adam spoke were chillingly quiet and soft, they almost hadn't heard him.

"It had arms, and legs…a….a face!" The youth stuttered, his voice sounded similar to a panicked growl, "It was _**human**_! And you- you killed it!"

Dean's jaw dropped as he blinked at his youngest brother. He turned to Sam and shrugged. _You deal with him_, he glared.

"It _**was **_human once, Adam. Years and years ago." Sam frowned as he tried to word it as delicately as possible. "But it resorted to eating human flesh…so it's a monster, burning it is the only way to kill-"

"But it was still a human! It doesn't matter how long ago! You _**killed **_it! Why?" Adam howled, his voice echoing through the forest.

"If we hadn't, it would have killed you!" Dean finally roared, causing Adam to stare incredulously at him.

"But…I…why?" He stuttered out eventually.

"What part of 'eating human flesh' don't you understand?" Dean growled impatiently.

"Dean!"

"Sorry, Sammy."

"Good! Well, Adam…me and Dean, we can protect ourselves-"

"So can I!" Adam looked offended, as if daring his brothers to mock his outburst.

"Not against monsters, you can't."

Adam simply stared. If it had been Dean that had replied, he would have simply ignored him, Dean was always teasing him…But Sam…Sam had never lied to him, not yet anyway. _Could he be telling the truth_? Adam frowned, then shook his head in exasperation. _Monsters? Pah! I'm not a kid! I don't believe in stuff like that! _"You're lying."

"Wh-what?"

"There's no such thing as monsters, Sam." Adam stated.

"Sammy…get dad's journal. I think it's about time Adam learned the truth…"

…..

Adam closed the journal and stared down at the ground in shock, closely watched by his two brothers.

He suddenly spoke after a moment. "I…I didn't read all of it…but…did that really happen to your mom?"

They both nodded.

"Did you catch it?" Adam lifted his head, and they both were momentarily overwhelmed at the emotions clearly showing on his face.

"No, not yet, buddy. That's why we hunt these monsters, hoping that one of them is the thing that killed her, or we can find more clues to lead us to it."

"I hope you do catch it." He muttered softly. "The thing that did it…it should suffer. It shouldn't make parents leave their kids like that…give them no choice. All those kids that don't have moms…" he trailed off and shrugged his shoulders lightly.

"Adam?" Sam asked quietly. "Are you ok? I know it's a hell of a thing to deal with…"

Adam shrugged again. "Dunno…I just thought…there's too much evil in the world already…and now you guys tell me that monsters exist…it's just…" he waved his hands as he tried to explain exactly how he felt.

"We know how you feel. " Dean sympathised. "We're gonna kill this thing that got our mom, and we're gonna find out who…or what, killed your mom, ok?"

Adam stood up quickly, an odd look on his face. "I-I can't do…d-do that…" And he ran back in the direction they had come in earlier.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, and Sam sighed. "You go after him, I'll tidy up here and see you at the car, ok?"

Dean nodded and ran off after Adam as Sam sighed again, and bent down to pick up their bags.

…

**A/N: ****So what did you think? Please review! Even if it's just a little comment, it'd mean a lot!**

**P.S. ****The song is 'Weight Of The World' by Young Guns.**

**=) Xxx.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: ****Uh...hi...*runs and hides* Sorry? I had essays and exams . But they're all done now! And it's Christmas in *counts* 6 DAYS! WOOOO! **

**Anyhoo, couple of notes about this chapter! I based it off the Bloody Mary episode...which, although is one of the scariest episodes ever, it's freakin' awesome! And I know Sam and Dean have already met her, but as this is kinda AU, they didn't get rid of her, and they are both affected by her, although they get rid of her pretty quickly, so there's not too much harm done!**

**Also, Amy is only in for a little bit, she is NOT a Mary-Sue...she's actually quite annoying...but I thought it'd be nice for Adam to have a friend, and that's it! Honest. Oh, and I tried my best with the American language here, but if I mucked up...SORRY! And feel free to correct me! I keep getting confused with chips and fries, and soda's etc. *slaps head***

***Looks up* Whooooah. Long note there...sorry! On with the chapter! =)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Just borrowing them for a bit. I'll give them back! Promise! .**

**Chapter 4 – Hunt The Haunted.**

Adam glared moodily at his greasy burger and fries; he didn't really have much of an appetite. He kept seeing the burning flesh of the Wendigo; it was etched into his brain. And the tortured screams plagued his dreams at night.

"You eatin' that?" Dean asked around a mouthful of burger, as he motioned to Adam's food.

Adam shook his head, causing Sam to peer at him in concern. "Hey, you ok?"

Adam dropped one of the now cold fries onto the plate that he had been thinking of eating.

"Adam?" Sam repeated.

The youth nodded and then resumed glaring at his artery clogging food.

"Adam?" Dean asked pointedly.

Adam sighed and pushed his plate over to Dean who began to consume the food like a Hoover. "God! It's freezing!" he shuddered, "And you've hardly ate any of it...Adam?"

Adam had tilted his head, and was gazing at a young waitress.

"Adam?" Dean smirked, "Don't think she's your type, kid-"

"Amy?" He interrupted the first word he'd spoken since the Wendigo incident a few days ago.

"Adam? Oh, Adam Milligan!" she squealed, and bustled over to their table, declaring to an older waitress, "I'm going on my break now!" She pulled Adam into a bone crushing hug, and then promptly threw herself down onto the bench beside Adam.

After a brief silence, Dean coughed obviously, and the girl jumped and smiled, holding out her hand as Dean, then Sam shook it. "Hi! I'm Amy Watson! I go to school with Adam and I live 2 doors away! And...you are?"

Dean nodded to Sam. "I like this chick. I'm Dean, and this is Sam. We're Adam's brothers-"

"Brothers? Adam! You didn't tell me you had-"

"Sorry?" He shrugged.

"We only found out about him a little while back." Dean supplied.

There was an awkward silence until Amy suddenly turned to Adam and demanded, "Hey, any news on your mom yet?"

The older Winchester's winced as Adam visibly jumped. His eyebrows furrowed together as he shook his head slowly.

"Aw, Adam! They'll find out who did it, don't you worry! They've questioned pretty much everyone in the town...have they _**honestly **_got no leads?" The girl rambled on; unaware that Adam clearly didn't want to talk about it. "I know they questioned everyone on our street, we were all talking about it. Did they ever ask...oh...what's-his-name?" She frowned, and then suddenly shouted, "Your moms' boyfriend!"

Dean started choking on his soda, whilst Sam hissed, "She had a _**boyfriend**_?"

Adam shrugged and replied in a monotonous voice, "He left ages ago. It doesn't matter..."

"It sure as hell does! Why on _**earth**_ didn't you tell us this before?" Dean butted in.

"'Cos I didn't think it was important!" Adam's voice rose suddenly.

"_**Excuse me**_?" Dean exploded, ignoring the curious stares of the other customers, "But-"

"Just leave it, Dean!" Adam growled, as he stood up and kicked a chair over, then stormed out of the diner.

Dean sighed and dragged his hands through his hair. "I thought after you, we'd have gotten rid of the tantrums, Sammy...kid's definitely a Winchester."

...

They found him sulking by the Impala, his arms crossed, his lips pouting, and a defiant glare stamped across his face. He looked up at them and scowled as they approached him.

"I'm not sorry, you know. For causing a scene in there," he motioned towards the diner. "I don't have to tell you guys anything, ok? I hardly know you. Hell, you hardly know me."

They simply stared at him. He'd not spoken to them since the Wendigo incident, and instead had completely withdrawn into himself. Now he'd suddenly started talking to them, but he wasn't in a good mood with either of them...and they couldn't work out why.

After a while, they slowly nodded and then Adam sighed deeply and demanded, "Well, where are we going now?"

"Uh...well, we're going to go find some leads on your mom-"

"No, we are not!" Adam snarled, interrupting Dean.

"But, don't you want to know what-"

"No! She's...she's gone now and that's that! Now-"

"Adam," Sam approached him cautiously and lowered his voice, "Calm down, ok? We _**need **_to find out what happened to her, ok? If we don't, there's no way you can move on-"

"I don't _**want **_to move on, Sam! It's only been a few weeks now, and-" They were shocked to see a tear rolls down their baby brothers' face as he admitted, "I'm already starting to forget things about her...I...I have to keep looking at a photo 'cos I forget the colour of her eyes...or...or..."

"Hey, buddy...it's...well, I don't know...but we _**are **_going to catch your mom's killer, ok? You have my word on that." Sam said gently.

Adam nodded, sniffling pitifully.

"But...you're gonna have to tell us what you know, ok kiddo? We can't do much until-"

"No!" Adams' head snapped up. "I-"

They were interrupted by Dean's phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Dean?"

"Bobby! Man! How you do-"

"Two words – Bloody Mary."

"Aw crap."

...

"Right. _**Please**_ tell me you know the story of Bloody Mary-"

"Yes, Dean."

"So, don't go looking in any mirrors or-"

"I'm not _**that **_vain! I can actually walk past a mirror without look-"

"_**Adam**_! Do you have to be so frustrating? You're such a brat!"

"But Dean, I'm a lovable brat." He smirked.

Sam laughed at the look of surprise that flashed on Dean's face. "Yup. Definitely a Winchester. Now, we are being serious here, Adam. You need to be careful, or you could get really hurt-"

"You said that about that Wendigo thing, and I was fine, wasn't I? Not a scratch!" he pouted childishly.

"_**Adam**_!" Dean hissed.

"_**Fine**_! I'm _**sorry**_! I won't look in _**any **_mirrors! I'll be a _**good **_little boy!"

"So, according to Bobby, Mary's been attacking again in a little town a couple of miles from here...getting a serious case of Dé-Ja-Vu here...we had a fight with her last year." Dean reminisced.

"And she's still alive because...?"

"Don't be sarcastic. Obviously we didn't do something right then, did we?"

Adam sniggered, "And _**you're**_ telling _**me **_to not be sarcastic?"

Dean smirked, "Me? Sarcastic? _**Noooo**_!"

"Can you two stop butting heads for fiveminutes?" Sam groaned in frustration.

"Calm down, princess. Don't give yourself a hernia."

Sam glared at Dean, then Adam, and then sighed. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

Adam sniggered again, "So how do we get rid of Mary?"

"You have to call her, and then smash her mirror. Pretty simple really."

"Obviously not, seeing as you two screwed it up _**so **_spectacularly last time."

"_**Adam**_." Dean growled impatiently in a warning as Adam smirked at him.

"Sorry. So how exactly do you call her?"

"You chant 'Bloody Mary' into a mirror three times." Sam supplied.

"Any mirror?"

"Well...she'll turn up in any mirror, but you want to try and smash the one where she died...I think." Dean frowned as he racked through his brain. "I think that the legend anyway, so I sup-"

"Right. Ok. I think I get it. So which one of us is going to say it?" Adam suddenly chuckled as Sam and Dean turned to face each other and did Rock, Paper, Scissors.

A victory cheer from Sam declared the winner, whilst Dean cursed under his breath and muttered, "Shoulda picked scissors."

...

"So how come you two aren't in prison? You must attract a lot of attention digging up graves and stuff." Adam asked curiously once they'd eventually broken into the antique store, "And _**why **_are we looking for a mirror in an antique store? How do you know it's not in someone's house or something?"

"Cos we're that awesome." Dean smirked. "And where else would you look for a mirror, but in an antique shop?"

"Uh, a _**mall**_? Someone's _**house**_?"

"An _**old**_ mirror! Don't correct me when I'm right!"

"You never said _**anything **_about it being an _**old**_ mirror!"

"Right!" Sam finally exploded. "If you two don't stop arguing like a couple of kids, I'm going to-"

"But I _**am **_a kid!" Adam argued.

Sam glared at his little brother as Dean shouted, "Oi! Is this mirror worth a shot?"

They followed Dean's voice over to behind a large wooden dresser, where he was standing in front of a full-length mirror, approximately a few decades or so old, engraved with an extravagant, swirling floral pattern.

"Suppose it's worth a shot." Sam shrugged. "Right, Adam. Grab that metal piper over there, and if you see _**any **_sudden movements in _**any **_mirror, smash it immediately. Understand?"

"Yup." Adam saluted with a smirk.

Sam rolled his eyes and turned to Dean who looked suddenly nervous. "You ready?"

Dean let out a deep breath, "Sure thing." He turned to the mirror, glanced back at his brothers, nodded, turned back and opened his mouth. "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary...Bloody Mary."

There was a brief interval. Nothing happened, and the only audible sound was the tense and harsh breathing of the three Winchesters. Suddenly Adam...or rather, Adam's reflection appeared in the mirror, tilted his head curiously and smirked rather manically.

"_**You killed her**_!" The voice croaked as Adam gasped. "_**It's all your fault! She should have gotten rid of you years ago! Her blood is on your hands, Adam! You're nothing but a filthy, cruel and heartless murderer**_!"

Adam sank to the floor in agony as tears of blood poured rapidly down his face, his eyes feeling like they were being torn apart, ripped from the nerves and then stamped on repeatedly, and the pressure on his brain was horrendous.

"De-Dean! Sam-my!" he gasped in utter agony.

"_**Dean**_!" Sam shrieked as he attempted to smash every mirror in sight, wiping his own tears of blood from his face using his jacket.

"On it Sammy!" Dean hollered as the sounds of smashing glass echoed around the room, indicating the two eldest Winchesters destroying every mirror, and every shard of glass until there was simply nothing left.

Sam threw his pipe on the floor and charged over to his little brother, grabbing his shoulders and checking for any injuries. "Adam? God, Adam! Are you ok?"

"Mmm." The kid groaned, coughing weakly. "Ouch."

Dean sighed in relief. "Something you want to tell us, kiddo?"

Adam opened and shut his mouth a few times, doing a very accurate impression of a goldfish. His normally quite tanned and healthy looking skin paled dramatically and he muttered, "I-I saw it all." And he promptly passed out.

**A/N: ****Song is 'Hunt the Haunted' by Kids in Glass Houses. **

**AND I REALLY NEED SOME HELP! I was reading an amazing fic earlier, then my laptop went all funny and deleted it and I can't remember the name of it! It was a Harry Potter one that had Harry and Draco in it. Draco had been locked away for 2 years and had met up with Harry and they eventually fell in love. Harry was studying at uni and had completely distanced himself from the wizarding world. It was awesome, and if anyone could find it or anything, I'd be willing to write them a one-shot of their choice...**

**Also, please review, it means you're an awesome person! Oh! And thanks to everyone who keeps favour ting my other stories! Especially 'Please, Don't Tell Daddy'! I will get round to updating that, I promise!**

**X**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: ****Hey! Sorry, I'm still alive! Is it me, or does every chapter I write start with apologies? Well, I had exams and then I was doing overtime, and then my laptop died, and then decided live was worth living and then, if you believe it, it deleted **_**all**_** my fanfics…lucky I managed to get everything back! So that's why it took me so long to update!**

**Right, loads of information is revealed in this chapter…that's all I'm saying! =P**

**And take Adam's words seriously. Drink responsibly. Or take a leave out of my book and don't drink at all. That's right…a teenager who doesn't drink! We exist! Although my relatives don't believe me…**

**I want to thank everyone that's favourited me and my stories recently. It means a lot. And thank you for all the reviews. They make me very happy.**

_**Previously in World's Apart:**_

_**Sam and Dean found out who Adam is, and that his mother had tragically died the week before. They've been on two hunts since then; the Wendigo where Adam found out the family secret and in the last chapter, they went to hunt Bloody Mary where Adam had an incident with the mirror…**_

**Chapter 5 – Tell Me A Secret.**

Sam glanced up from his laptop screen to check on a sleeping Adam. Or perhaps unconscious was the more appropriate word. He yawned, and forcing to keep his eyes open just a little bit longer, he saved the page he was researching and closed down the laptop, just as Dean entered the motel room carrying overflowing bags filled with various food items and medical supplies.

"He woken up at all?" Dean demanded, dumping the bags on the small kitchen counter, and then proceeding to rake through the medical supplies.

"Nope," Sam replied wearily as he stood up, wincing as his back cracked, and he wandered over to unpack the groceries, glancing at Dean who sighed, and threw himself on the bed closest to the door.

After an argument with the TV…which he lost, Dean decided to pass the time until Adam regained consciousness by counting the holes in the dirt covered carpet. When that killed all of five minutes – there were sixteen – he sighed and turned to Sam. "It's been a couple of hours. Wake him up. He shouldn't be sleeping so much after that anyways."

"I read that as long as the person is woke at regular intervals, it is perfectly ok to sleep after a head trauma. It has been scientifically proven that-"

"Right, professor Winchester. When I want to become a doctor, I'll ask you! But in the meantime, wake up the midget, ok?" Dean rolled his eyes.

"You do it."

"No, you."

"Dean…"

"I'm the oldest."

"So?" Sam demanded incredulously.

"Sammy…"

"Fine!" Sam sighed in resignation. "Fine." He stood up and wandered over to where the youngest male was sprawled on the bed, buried under a cocoon of blankets, with a tuft of dark blonde hair poking out of the top of the covers. He placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and lightly shook it. "Adam? Hey, c'mon. Wake up."

The youngest Winchester groaned and turned his head to the side, his eyes remaining firmly closed.

"Adam."

"Hmm?"

"Wake up."

"Mm."  
"Adam!"

His eyelids sprang open, revealing a pair of crystal blue eyes, and a confused scowl appeared on his face. "Where are we?" He yawned and cringed as pain swept through his head. He glanced around the room whilst massaging his forehead. "How'd we get back to the motel?"

"We carried you." Dean replied calmly, "Well…I did, and Sammy sat with you in the impa-"

"_**You**_ carried me?" Adam's eyebrow rose.

"You're not exactly heavy, kiddo. You need to eat more…are you ok?" He suddenly demanded as Adam turned a funny colour and his mouth clamped shut.

Sam rolled his eyes, grabbed a nearby trash can, and thrust it under Adam's face, just as the kid spewed out the contents of his stomach.

"Lovely." Dean grimaced as the smell wafted up towards his nostrils. He scowled as Sam passed the bin over to him. "What?"

"Empty it. I'll go look for something to settle his stomach. Then we need to talk, ok?" he glanced at Adam, who sighed and weakly nodded.

Adam sat back against the headboard, breathing heavily as his fingers fiddled with the frayed edges of the faded blue blankets covering the lower part of his body. He'd had a similar one as a kid, and his mom had always loved telling everyone about how the first thing she'd done when she'd found out she was pregnant, was knit a baby blue blanket. She knew it was a boy, much to the midwife's amusement. A small smile appeared on his face, as Dean interrupted with, "Really takes it outta ya, don't it? Hunting monsters." He chuckled as he looked at Adam. "Seriously though, you gonna be ok?"

Adam nodded. Then shrugged. "Are they…are they all as bad as that…thing?"

His brother also shrugged. "Most of 'em will try and kill ya. 'Spose they don't take too kindly to the whole idea of eternal peace in the afterlife and all that jazz."

"Do you think my mom's in heaven?" Adam suddenly asked, his eyes wide. "She wasn't a bad person. She was a nurse! And – and a _**great**_ mom! And –"

They pretended to ignore the tears gathering in his eyes as Sam smiled sadly, "I'm sure she is, Adam."

Dean caught Sam's eyes as an awkward silence filled the room. Sam shrugged again and looked back at Dean, who glared, sighed, and then turned back to Adam who was staring intently at his hands.

"So…Adam…? Wanna tell us about your mom's boyfriend?" Dean suddenly demanded, cringing as Adam winced.

"Uh…" he coughed, his mouth suddenly dry as he ran his hands through his dark blonde hair. "Not much to tell, really…" He continued at Dean's pointed glare, "Well, I…I didn't really see him that much…really. I had school. And then…well, I stayed in my room most of the time…"

"Did he give you any trouble?" Sam asked carefully, regarding his little brother.

Adam blinked. "Not…really. I mean, we argued. I guess…I could cause an argument with anyone…"

"Not really, Adam. You're pretty quiet. Who told you that?" Sam interjected warily.

"Well…_**he**_ did. But it is true, I suppose. I did silly things, you know. So I deserved the…arguments. As I said, I didn't really see him much…" Adam shrugged.

"What do you mean by 'silly things'?" Dean demanded, lowering his tone of voice after an exasperated glare from Sam.

"Well…I answered back to him. And I wouldn't get his beer out of the fridge…when he asked." Adam shrugged again. "I don't like drinking much." They didn't miss his eyes flicker over to the beer cases Dean had purchased earlier, or the frown on his face when he realised the large quantity there.

"How come?" Dean could have smacked himself. Repeatedly. He had meant to ask the kid why he wouldn't drink. Dean had been well accustomed to alcohol when he was Adam's age…and man, did that make him feel old. Hell, even Sammy had experienced a few drinks at that age, and that kid didn't even know the definition of the word 'party'.

Adam seemed to think hard about that one. "Well, I suppose…I think I don't like what it does to people. It gives them false confidence, they become violent and there's sick everywhere. My mom is…was…a nurse, and she is always…was always telling me about kids getting their stomachs pumped and stuff."

Dean stared at him. "You know, I don't think you've ever said so much in one go. We should record this Sammy!"

Adam's lips turned up slightly, "Just don't think you should talk unless there's something worth saying. My opinion doesn't matter much, so –"

"Whoa, whoa, _**whoa**_! Hold it, midget! What do you mean by that?"

"Dunno." Adam shrugged _**again**_. "I don't have many friends, and my mom was the only one who talked to me. Steve only did if he wanted something."

"Well, you've got us no-" Sam started, but Dean interrupted with, "Who's Steve?"

"Mom's boyfriend," He muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Does he know about your mom?" Sam asked gently.

Something strange flickered in Adam's eyes. "I guess. It was all over the papers. And the neighbours know too."

"Do you want to contact him?" Dean asked carefully.

"_**No**_!" Adam shook his head ferociously and growled, " I don't want to see him!"

"Why?" Sam asked in confusion.

"Didn't you hear _**anything**_ I just said? He abused us!" Adam demanded incredulously, as he sat up and glared menacingly at his brothers.

Dean threw his hands up in mock-surrender and sighed, "_**Whoa**_! Sorry. Well, this…Steve? Is there any reason he'd have to hurt your mom?"

Adam froze, and muttered, "Don't think so."

Sam suddenly bent down to his brother's level on the bed, and asked quietly and cautiously, "I need you to answer this, ok?" He paused, and then continued as Adam nodded, "Did Steve ever…hurt your or your mom?"

"Adam?" A quiet voice called out from the other side of the wooden bathroom door. "Can you please come out?"

Adam moved further into the corner of the bathroom into the small space between the sink and shower. He brought his legs up to his chest, and rested his head on his knees, his arms curling around his legs and effectively locking himself away from the outside world. He shuddered as the cold dull tiles of the walk pressed into his frozen skin, and the bruises he'd obtained from the Bloody Mary incident still ached. He sighed in frustration, wondering how he always managed to get himself into these awkward situations. He couldn't stay in this tiny bathroom forever…he'd have to leave sometime. Well…they say there's no time like the present…

He slowly stood up, using the sink to pull his tired body from the floor, then he shuffled his way across the closet-like bathroom, and taking a deep breath, he threw open the bathroom door, and walked straight into his brothers…literally.

"Adam…what did he do to you?" Sam whispered, shaking his head.

Adam's head snapped up to stare at his brothers in shock, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open.

"I'm guessing by your earlier reaction that he did something…"

Adam slowly nodded, lowering his eyes to stare at the _**fascinating **_torn carpet. "Uh…he'd get drunk and…" he trailed off and shrugged.

"You or your mom?" Dean asked carefully, knowing exactly what Adam couldn't say out loud.

"Both. Mostly mom though…If I…tried to…stop him…he'd turn…" Adam shivered and gulped.

"How bad?"

Adam turned around, and slowly lifted up the back of his long-sleeved top to reveal a back covered in various scars and fading bruises.

"Oh, Adam…" Sam whispered in horror, words failing him.

"They were worse if I fought back…" he admitted quietly.

Sam stepped forward warily, and placed his hand on his abused little brother's shoulder, and squeezed it slightly, conveying what he couldn't say through his actions….he _**cared**_, and Adam needed to know that. Now more than ever. "We need to know, Adam…could he have killed your mom?"

Adam shivered. He opened and closed his mouth a few times and finally blurted out, his eyes impossibly wide, "I tried to stop him! Honest! I came home from school and…he had his hands around her neck, she was hitting him back…he never liked it when we fought back…I tried…" Tears starting pouring down his face, making him appear even younger than he was, and his breathing grew heavier, "He let go and turned on me and she hit him and then…" He gulped, "He turned on her and he wouldn't stop hitting her…she wouldn't stop screaming at him…there was _**so **_much blood…" he trailed off as he was overcome with tears and all his brothers could do was stare at him in horror.

**A/N: ****Will Sam and Dean be able to bring Adam out of his little shell? Maybe, maybe not. It might be quite nice in there, after all. Nice and cosy. And safe.**

**Ohhh yeah. And I have nothing against the name Steve. Sorry if there's any Steve's out there. I just picked a name at random! =P**

**And there was rather a lot of information to take in there, wasn't there? Sorry! I hope it flowed ok…I wasn't sure if it did.**

**P.S. Song – 'Tell Me A Secret' by Twenty Twenty.**

**=)**

**X**

5


	6. Chapter 6

**NOT AN UPDATE! =)**

**I just received a review from **_**Ellie Clemons**_** (thanks by the way!), and I have decided to ask some questions: **

**Everyone who's reading this fic, what do you want to have happened to Adam? It was implied what Steve did to him and his mom, but is there anything else anyone wants me to add?**

**Also, do you want them to catch Steve? And do you want him to be human or some form of monster? If he was a monster, what type of monster would he be? **

**And finally, any other characters that have appeared throughout the series to appear? I haven't seen season 6 yet, so I'm not including any from there.**

**I'll update in the next few days, probably the weekend, so I won't take any more suggestions after…Friday unless they're awesome =P And I just wanted to get some answers as I've hit writer's block…again. *head desk***

**Thanks for all the reviews and to everyone who's favourited me and **_**World's Apart**__! _**You're all awesome!**

**=)**

**X**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: ****Sorry for the long wait! My brain died, and I've been loads of great fanfics lately, so I was trying to improve my writing…but I still feel this chapter goes a bit…blaaaah at the end… ****AND I PASSED ALL MY UNI EXAMS****! WOOOO! *does victory dance***

**Thanks for all the amazing reviews and suggestions everyone left! And thanks to **_**TheLadyPendragon**_**, for your review as well! I tried to reply, but for some reason it wouldn't let me! *shakes fist at internet* I'm glad you liked it! =) And I read some of your stories recently (sorry I can't remember which one, I've read so many lately while waiting for my brain to work!) and it was awesome! I will definitely try and include all the characters you mentioned, or at least some of them! I really want Cas to be in it, anyone have any ideas? He doesn't fit in the timeline, but I'd love to include him!**

**Also, thanks to **_**Zith888**_**! There **_**WILL**_** be a Winchester hug, don't you worry! Might be more than one actually… and I may just have Steve kidnap him! Thanks!**

**And most people seemed keen on the idea of Steve being human instead of a monster…so I'll just stick with that….**

**I've tried to incorporate all the good ideas you all left in your reviews, so hopefully you'll like this chapter! Thanks for all those who suggested extra character as well, and expansions as to what happened to Adam! You're all amazing people! =)**

**Enjoy!**

**P.S. Trying out a new line breaker…mine never seem to work…=S**

**Chapter 6 - Breakdown.**

A loud and fierce pounding on the door resulted in Adam's eyes springing open suddenly. After a brief glance over to his brothers – who were both snoring into their pillows and showing no signs of waking in the near future – Adam sluggishly stood up, his bones cracking with exhaustion and lack of use, and shuffled his way over to the motel door. Cautiously peering through the keyhole, and seeing no-one, Adam slowly pulled open the door to reveal –

"Steve?" he gasped, his heart threatening to jump out from his chest, and scuttle under the bed to hide. Then Adam realised he had forgotten to take his weapons to the door. Sam and Dean had encouraged – or rather demanded – that Adam _**always**_ be prepared; _**never**_ talk to strangers (what was he, five?), and _**always**_ carry some form of weapon on you in case you are attacked by strangers or monsters. Or in this case…an evil step-dad.

"Now, boy, what did I tell ya about speakin' to me?" The giant of a man – in both height and shape – growled at the cowering youth.

"Uh…" Adam struggled to form words, his mouth dry, "Uh, don't speak…unless spoken to…sir."

"Good boy." Steve praised as he ruffled Adam's dirty blonde hair, deliberately ignoring the flinches his actions created from the boy. "Where did you go off to?"

"What? I mean…sorry, sir?"

"After yer mother's…accident. Yeh disappeared. You and me, we make a good team, boy. A boy should never be without a father." The man smirked, stroking Adam's cheek with a dirty, calloused thumb. His beard covered his thick neck, and was filled with crumbs, most likely as a result of binge-eating. He cupped the boy's chin when the boy tried to pull away, disgust clear in his eyes and in the way his lips curled. "What's the matter, boy?"

"You're _**not**_ my father. John is."

"And the kid has a backbone! Listen boy, I am as good a daddy as you'll ever get. _**John **_don't care about you, else he'd have taken you away years ago when yeh were a baby, so I didn't need to put up with yer whining." He strengthened his grip on the boy's face, using his remaining hand to grab one of Adams' arms, forcing him into a tight bear hug. "You're my son and I'm yer daddy, and daddy's always love their son's very, very much."

"No…no…no-no-no-let go…" Adam struggled in the strong, fierce hold.

"Adam-"

"No! Let go-"

"Adam-"

"Boy! Stop struggling-"

"_**Let go of me-don't touch – STOP**_!"

"Adam-

"Adam!"

"Kiddo? Stay with us!"

"Adam, wake up – it's just a dream, you're safe!"

"Adam?"

Adam's eyes sprang open, wide and not blinking under his sweat covered fringe, which was plastered to his forehead. Tears mixed with the sweat on his face, and it was impossible to distinguish which was which. Gasping breaths were the only noise audible in the motel room, and the two men slowly led their brother away from the open motel door, and sat him on one of the beds. Sam quickly walked over and shut the door and got Adam a glass of water, leaving Dean to attempt to comfort the terrified teenager.

Eventually Adam's breathing returned to a normal level and he raised his eyes to look at the concerned faces that belonged to his brothers. "I-" he gulped. "I'm sorry."

Sam squeezed his shoulder, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Adam shrugged. Then nodded. Then shook his head and shrugged again. After a moment of hesitation, he mumbled, "Steve. He was…here. It was…so _**real**_…I thought…" he trailed off and stared at his brothers.

"We'll never let him harm you, Adam." Sam replied instantly.

"Yeah." Dean interjected loudly, as if the very tone of his voice would vanish away any evil that so much as even _**thought**_ about harming his baby brother…either of them. "Nothin' means more to a Winchester than family."

"But I'm a Milligan." Adam muttered dejectedly.

"Adam, you are a _**true**_ Winchester. You've been through this…horrible experience, and you've survived. We're proud to have you as our little brother."

To their surprise, and horror, Adam burst into noisy, wailing like a cat-that-had-been-stood-on sobs and threw himself and the two men. They carefully placed their arms around him and pulled him in until all three foreheads were pressed together; dirty blonde hair mixing in with shaggy brown locks and short dark blonde spikes. Suddenly, Dean started sniggering from under Sam's elbow.

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

"What, Dean?" Sam sighed in exasperation.

"Winchester sandwich." He chuckled.

Neither Sam nor Adam found it particularly amusing, as Dean continued to chuckle, nevertheless, the three of them howled with laughter until their sides were sore, and the tears on Adam's face changed from those of pain, to those of joy.

"My mum used to take me to the park every Friday after school. I'd get an ice-cream too, it'd be our treat. I met my best friend Timmy there – he's moved away now – and I always used to climb to the top of the climbing frame, and wave at her. Just to see her smile." Adam rambled on once the hysterical laughter had died down. Adam has suddenly decided to entertain them with stories from his childhood, creating fond smiles on Sam's and Dean's faces as they learned more about their baby brother, inwardly patting themselves on the back when they realised that they'd broken down some of Adam's walls, and discovered a shy, sarcastic, and overall, pleasant young man. "And then, " he continued, not noticing the smiles on his brothers' faces, "I dumped the sand on Timmy's head, and somehow ended up breaking his arm! Lucky my mum was there to help out, really. He got me back a few years ago on my birthday, though. He tripped me up and I fell and broke my finger. Banged my head too. I hate concussion. Do you two get hurt a lot?"

Sam and Dean shared an exasperated look, still smiling. Who knew Adam was such a chatterbox?

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

A few hours later, when Adam had finally tired himself out from talking and eventually fallen asleep, Sam and Dean were sitting at the tiny motel table, having a whispered discussion about recent events and revelations.

"We need to find Steve. And if he's human or not. I almost hope he is human, means we can get the police on him."

"Yeah, but it just shows humans can be monsters too, Sammy. Remember the Benders?"

"Eugh." Sam shuddered. "Weird to think us humans can be more dangerous that the monsters we hunt. The only monster Steve could possibly be, is a Shapeshifter, I think. And I really don't want to put Adam through that again. He's only just found out about out world, I wouldn't like to know what would happen to him if it turned out he'd been living with a monster all this time."

It was Dean's turn to shudder. He glanced at Adam and smiled in satisfaction when he turned over in his sleep and continued to snore softly, "'Spose we could get Bobby to run a background check on him? Maybe check in with Ellen, see if he's a hunter, or if any of her pals know him?"

"I doubt he is, but it's worth a shot." Sam sighed, "I'll go check on Adam, and you phone Bobby and tell him we'll be there in a few hours."

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Alrigh', alrigh'! Jeez, can't an old man get to the door in his own time?" Bobby grumbled. He checked his pocket for his knife and his gun – just in case – and threw open the door to reveal three young men. "Boys!" he exclaimed, a grin lightening up his ageing features, "Yer early!"

"Well, _**someone **_broke every speed limit coming here. It was 60, Dean, _**not**_, 120-" Sam whined, but was interrupted by Dean.

"That's a _**recommended **_limit, Sa-"

"_**No**_! It's a limit set up by the-"

"Plus, the Impala can't read," Dean smirked smugly. "And I was too busy rockin' to Zeppelin to pay attention."

"Yeah. My poor ears." Adam grumbled, furiously rubbing his ears, whilst glaring playfully at Dean.

"I hate you." Dean laughed.

"Deal with it." Adam stuck out his tongue.

"Why, you little…be careful or I'll cut it off, you-"

"_**BOYS**_!" Bobby roared, successfully silencing the oldest and youngster Winchester. Turning to the middle Winchester and demanding in exasperation, "How do you cope with these two idgits?" At Sam's howl of laughter, he grinned and said, "I've only got two rooms free of junk right now, so one of yeh is gonna have to share. Yeh, can fight after yer dinner, ok?"

"Yes, sir!" Sam and Dean chorused, laughing at Adam's amused look.

**XxXxXxXxXx**

After their stomachs were full, and Adam had declared he was exhausted, and therefore he was going to bed, and that 'you two idiots can fight over who loves me the most and wants to share with me', he left them to retell Adam's tale whilst they sat in the lounge, working their way through a case of beer.

"I can't believe this guy hurt him so much." Bobby growled, "Sometimes I just wanna bring yer daddy back from the grave, just so I can whack 'im on the head!"

"What?" Dean demanded angrily, slamming his partially empty beer can down on the wooden table.

"He wasn't protectin' Adam by keeping him 'safe'!" Bobby snarled, just itching to smack someone….preferably John, "He just put him in more danger!"

Sam placed a hand on Bobby's shoulder and squeezed. They all knew that Bobby had taken Sam and Dean on as surrogate sons, and Adam was no exception. Despite the scowls that were not present on Bobby's face, the old guy was about as harmless as a butterfly, with the exception of monsters…he unleashed a vicious temper on them…that old man sure was pretty awesome with a crowbar…

"It's ok," Sam continued gently, "We're going to catch him-"

"How? From what yeh said, he just plain vanished off the face of the earth!"

"We're gonna see if we can go back to Windom and get Adam to find a photo of Steve so that-"

"Is it worth going to the police?" Bobby interrupted, a glare on his face.

"Dunno?" Sam shrugged, "We had a hard enough time getting Adam to open up to us, never mind complete strangers…I suggest we try on our own first, and then go to them if we don't find anything?"

It was due to a desperation and fierce desire to protect the youngest Winchester that resulted in the other two nodding in agreement. None of them noticed a burly, giant of a man, with a permanent scowl and eyebrows furrowed together lurking near the Impala.

**XxXxXxXxXxXx**

**A/N: ****Working on the next chapter now, but if I don't get it up this week, it'll be a couple of weeks as I have two concerts! Take That and Glee! And I'm travelling down to London for the Glee one! **

**Please leave a review! **

**Chapter title song is **_**Breakdown**_** by Forever the Sickest Kids! Seeing them in October! WOOOOO!**

=) x


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: ****Hi! Sorry this took so long to post! I was writing Harry Potter fics…*innocent grin* I still enjoy writing this fic! I just had a lot of fun writing Harry Potter fics!**

**Anyhoo, enjoy!**

_**Chapter 7 – Closer to the Edge.**_

Steve Carter sighed with relief and plastered a grin on his face as the hour hand on the clock above his desk finally struck five o 'clock. He stretched, arching his back like a cat as his large stomach strained against his dark blue cotton shirt. He switched off his computer, raked through mountainous piles of paper to locate his car keys, waved goodbye to his colleagues and then strolled leisurely out to his car. He started the engine, checked his manic reflection in the mirror, and then drove for a short distance, eventually slipping off of the main road onto a dirt track – easily missed unless you knew of it beforehand.

He drove a little further, before leaving his car near a gathering of rusty, ancient cars, many of which were piled high up to the sky, one on top of the other. He casually glanced around, checking for other people, before walking cautiously up to a black, shining car. He checked his surroundings again, before creeping up to a small, shack-like building and peering in the closet window until he discovered a blonde haired youth staring intently at a miniscule television set in the corner. The boy suddenly stood up, stretched, and said something to the two men in the room, only to leave the house and head towards the driveway seconds later. The teenager walked over to the Impala and was suddenly greeted with an agonising pain and his world was quickly filled with darkness.

_**XXXX**_

Adam winced as a sharp pain filled his head. His eyes remained closed as he attempted to reason with himself. He had the terrible idea that if he opened his eyes; he wouldn't see Sam and Dean. He had the terrible idea that if he opened his eyes, he'd see someone much worse. Someone evil. He tried to convince himself that he had simply banged his head somehow on his walk, and that his brothers had brought him back into Bobby's…but he knew that wasn't true. He took a deep breath, and slightly opened his eyes to reveal the very subject of his nightmares leering manically at him.

"Hello, boy. Good to see yer finally awake. Now, let's get down to business. What did yeh tell those two men?" He growled.

"I told my _**brothers**_ everything," Adam snapped angrily, "And when they find out I'm gone, they'll come and rescue me!"

"No. They won't, boy. See, they don't know where you are, do they?" He pointed out, a smirk forming on his unshaven face.

"Well…no…but they _**will **_find me. They are hunters!" Adam blurted out before clamping his lips shut.

"Hunters?" Steve laughed incredulously, mocking Adam's indignant tone, "I don't think they can do me much harm, I'm no rabbit, boy! Pair of freaks, yer _**'brothers'**_ are," he quoted with his fingers.

"Why am I here?" Adam asked quietly, "Are you going to kill me?"

"I should." Steve admitted softly, "Yer mommy, she had to go, you understand, boy? But you…I'm willing to keep yeh alive if you'll help meh."

"Help you…? Help you with what?"

"Those brothers of yours were responsible fer killing one of my pals a few years back, I want you to help me get even."

"_**NO**_! They're my brothers!" Adam shouted in protest.

"_**You**_," he strode up to Adam, "_**Will**_," he pulled Adam off of the bed, "_**Do**_," he pulled him up to eye level, "_**Exactly**_," he glared into his eyes, "_**What**_," he shook him, "_**I say**_," He threw him back down onto the floor, "Or I will make yer life hell, boy. I know yeh _**think**_ yeh love these boys and that they love yeh, but they don't! See, they feel guilty fer leaving yeh when they had each other-"

"Shut up!"

"What did yeh say, boy?" Steve glared dangerously.

"I said _**shut up**_ about my brothers!" Adam shouted as Steve threw himself down, and placed a hand over his mouth and nose, "Stop! " he tried to shout, "I…can't…breathe…"

_**XXXX**_

"Hey, Adam? You hungry?" Sam called through the door. "Bobby's made some steak pie, you might want to come and grab some before Dean scoffs the lot." There was no reply. "Adam? You sleeping, kiddo?" Sam frowned as he turned the door knob and the door opened to reveal and empty room. "Adam?" Sam shook his head before checking the bathroom and the other rooms upstairs, before running down to the kitchen calling out, "Hey, Adam hasn't passed you has he? Only, he's not in his room or any of the others…."

_**XXXX**_

Steve looked grimly at the unconscious youth on the bed. Maybe, he thought grimly, just maybe he'd taken it too far this time. Oh, sure, the kid was still alive. But when he'd started yelling back, Steve had only just managed to pull himself off the kid before he'd suffocated him. He hadn't planned this far in advance either. He'd only thought as far as grabbing the kid, and getting away. He was stumped as to what his next move was; did he leave the country? Kill the kid? What?

He perched himself on the edge of one of the beds in the motel room, and buried his head in his hands as he let out a deep sigh.

He sat like that for a few moments, wallowing in self-pity and indecision before a slight movement on the bed penetrated his thoughts. Adam had opened his eyes and was staring in fear at him. He didn't want that. Well, perhaps on some level. He wanted the boy afraid enough of him that he wouldn't disobey and go running back to those idiotic brothers of his. But he didn't want him scared into silence. It was unnerving to say the least.

Steve coughed and moved towards Adam who back-pedalled on the bed in fright, curling his body into a small ball and peering up at Steve with wide eyes. "Please…if you're going to kill me, please make it quick."

"I'm not going to kill you, boy. I told you that."

"Well…what…what do you want with me?" he whispered quietly, although his voice echoed in the small room.

"I never got kids of my own." Steve shrugged, "I just wanted one. Yer mommy said I couldn't replace yer daddy, but seeing as he's dead and he never bothered with you anyways, I think yer mine now." He smiled, not noticing the horror-struck look on the room's other occupant.

"Steve…sir, please, just let me go. Please. I just found my brothers, I'm only just getting to know them, please, let me go, sir!" Adam begged.

"I don't think so, boy. They were fine without you, before they ever knew of you, so I think they'll be fine now, won't they? Sure, they might be a little upset at a while, but once they think you're dead or somethin', they'll forget all about you."

"Why are you doing this?" Adam demanded angrily. "What gives you the right to-"

"I'm yer daddy, boy. I have the-"

"_**You are not my dad**_! John is!" he visibly gulped as Steve approached him, a menacing glint flashing in his eyes.

_**XXXXX**_

Ellen Harvelle sighed dramatically as she scrubbed a stubborn dirt mark one of the many cracked glasses she had to clean that day. She drew her hand across her face, streaking some sweat marks, before admitting defeat and slamming the glass down on the worktop and groaning.

"Hey, momma?" The loud voice of her only child, Jo, called out from another room, "Bobby Singer's on the phone-"

"I'm coming, honey. You carry on with the cleaning, ok?"

"But momma-"

"Joanna Beth-" Ellen warned.

"Yes, Momma." Jo sighed before flouncing angrily behind the bar to take over her mother's duties as the older woman picked up the phone and smiled, "Bobby? How are you?"

"Fine, Ell, just fine. Listen, I've got Sam and Dean here, they need your help-"

"Ok, Bobby, I'll see what I can do…hi, Dean? Hey….oh? I didn't know you had another one, yer dad sure got around…I was kidding! How old is he? Really? Aww, sweet. Don't you threaten me, young man. I have photos of you running around starkers, one word, and I can have it on the front page of every newspaper in the- yes, boy, of course I'm joking. When do you see him last? Right…and he didn't say anything about leavin'? No? Uh huh, ok…did he act funny at all? Anyone with a grudge, or someone who'd want to harm him? Really? WELL THEN! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE, YOU IDGIT!"

_**XXXXX**_

Dean grimaced as he put the phone down. "Wowee, the woman sure can yell."

Sam sighed, "Well, what did she say?"

Dean shrugged, "She said she'd see what she could do, she's not promising anythin', but she'll ask all her hunting buddies if they've seen someone like Adam, or heard anythin'. She says we ought to be careful though, as we don't know if Steve's human or not. She also says we should get the cops involved, just in case. What do you think?"

"I think we should involve them. He's still a kid. And it's been a few hours now. I know they normally want you to wait, but seeing as his mom was murdered, they might be more willing to …I don't know…" he shrugged.

The three men stared at each other. In the short time they had known Adam, he had filled their little word with sarcasm and jokes, and they couldn't really imagine life without him.

_**XXXXX**_

Steve sprang up in his bed as he heard a car pull in outside the motel. For most motels, this was a normal occurrence, but this one Steve had picked because it was out of the way and unknown to many. Therefore, he was curious as to why a car would pull up this late at night. With a quick glance over to the boy – who was sleeping- Steve crept over to the window, and peeked through the dirty curtains to gaze at the car park. Three men jumped out the shiny black car he had seen parked outside that old man's house, and they went round to the trunk . Alarm bells went off in Steve's head; these were the brothers and that old man! He charged over to Adam, gagged him and threw him over his shoulder before grabbing his belongings and running out of the door, Adam's muffled yells covered by his feet thumping along the corridor.

Steve's heart beat faster as the sounds of sirens accompanied those of the men outside, and he slipped into the fire exit door, shut it quietly then ran up a few flights of stairs until he reached the roof.

_**XXXX**_

"Please, miss, this is extremely important!" The frustrated police officer begged the young woman at the reception who was currently filing her nails, a bored expression on her face. "Did an older, large man come in here with a young, blonde haired youth, approximately sixteen years of age?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Miss, do I need remind you that withholding information from the police is a criminal offence?"

"He told me not to say anything?" Boredom quickly merged into panic, "He threatened me!"

"Miss, please. This child is in serious trouble, this man is a suspected murderer!"

"Room 13. I don't know why you want to know though, he's probably gone by now."

_**XXXXX**_

"Room 13, Sammy! You check the room, I'll check along the corridors. I have a feeling they've left the room." Dean ordered, panic lacing his words.

"Ok! Jo, can you and your mom check the car park in case they leave? And Bobby-"

"I'm on it!" Jo interrupted, charging off to find her mom.

"Bobby, can you go back to reception, and ask the girl if there's any place in here that Steve could hide?" Bobby nodded before running as fast as his old legs would let him.

_**XXXX**_

"BOY! YOU STOP POUNDING ON MY BACK OR ELSE!" Steve roared, before lowering his voice, "I can make your life hard, boy. Don't make me do somethin' I'll regret."

Adam continued to shout obscenities, his voice still muffled by the gag in his mouth, although he stopped pounding on Steve's back.

"See, not so hard is it? Now, I wonder if there's anyway down from here…We're only a floor up, small motel and all that…but we'll take you some place to get patched up when we get out of here, ok?"

Adam's eyes widened dramatically, and he continued to scream, his muffled yells increasing in volume. It was so loud that neither of the two heard the door open on the roof, and Sam, Dean, Bobby, Jo, Ellen and the cops poured through, blocking the only safe exit.

Steve whirled around, Adam thrashing on his shoulder, shouting and reaching out his arms and his eyes found Sam and Dean. But they could not move. It was the clichéd television scene – one wrong move, and the bad guy would jump, seriously harming the victim. It wasn't a high jump, but it could still do some serious damage. With an evil smirk, and another muffled yell from Adam; Steve raised the boy above his head, and placed one foot over the edge of the motel roof.

_**XXXXX**_

**A/N: ****Please don't kill me. Also, please review. I was looking on my page, and loads of people are reading my stories, just not reviewing, so it'd mean a lot if you could review, it lets me know that there are people out there reading it x**

**P.S. Song title is '**_**Closer to the Edge' **_**by 30 Seconds to Mars.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: ****Hi! Sorry, haven't updated in a bit! I've been writing some Harry Potter fanfiction, and I started writing a book! Wonder if I'll actually finish it this time…**

**I apologise for the cliff-hanger I left you all with last time…=P**

**Enjoy!**

**Previously: **

_Adam's eyes widened dramatically, and he continued to scream, his muffled yells increasing in volume. It was so loud that neither of the two heard the door open on the roof, and Sam, Dean, Bobby, Jo, Ellen and the cops poured through, blocking the only safe exit._

_Steve whirled around, Adam thrashing on his shoulder, shouting and reaching out his arms and his eyes found Sam and Dean. But they could not move. It was the clichéd television scene – one wrong move, and the bad guy would jump, seriously harming the victim. It wasn't a high jump, but it could still do some serious damage. With an evil smirk, and another muffled yell from Adam; Steve raised the boy above his head, and placed one foot over the edge of the motel roof._

_**Chapter 8 - I Guess You Can Say Things Are Getting Pretty Serious.**_

Dean lunged; throwing himself at them, arms reaching out in an attempt to grab Adam's outstretched hands as the youth tried to scrabble over Steve's shoulder, determined to escape from his tight hold.

Sam stood there in shock, mouth open as he thought up some way; _**any**_ way to help that wouldn't involve the death of any member currently on the roof.

Ellen, Jo and Bobby simply stared at each other, tears flowing down their faces as they realised that everything had suddenly gone wrong as Steve turned around, tried to push Adam towards Dean, but his foot slipped on the edge of the roof, and the two males plummeted down onto the tarmac, tortured bellows and shrieks the only sounds heard until a large crack echoed across the skies.

_**XXX**_

The waiting room was pretty much empty; Dean was pacing up and down, up and down. Every so often, he'd stop, glance out of the door when a nurse hurried past, then he'd resume his pacing. Sam was currently slouched in the creaky, plastic chair, his hands buried in his hair, his head buried between his knees. Bobby was sipping out of a foam coffee cup, not really tasting it, but nevertheless drinking it for the sake of something to do. Jo was staring into space, Ellen's hand on her shoulder as she too, gazed into space, as if the action itself would produce the answers they so desired.

They all jumped simultaneously as a young nurse – probably just out of med school – practically ran into the room, paperwork piled in her arms as her eyes focused on each individual in the room.

"Parent or guardian of Adam Milligan?" She asked, frowning as Dean strode up to her, his jaw locked and a worried scowl plastered on his face as he growled, "Adam Winchester-"

"Sorry, sir, but it says-"

"I don't care what it says. His name is Winchester, _**not**_Milligan-"

"Dean! Will you stop creating battles, and let us just find out how Adam is, please?" Sam begged, as he joined his brother in front of the nurse. "I'm sorry, miss, but could you please tell us-"

"He's alive." She stated as everyone in the room nearly wept in relief, "But he's in a bad way, critical but stable."

"Is he awake?" Ellen questioned.

"Not at the moment, he's just come out of theatre, but he should wake up soon, hopefully some time tonight, if all goes well."

"Theatre?" Dean demanded as his eyes widened.

"Yes, he was really quite badly injured. He only survived as he landed on top of the other man, but he will be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. He has a broken arm, three broken ribs, a bruised stomach, a broken leg and numerous other cuts and bruises. His head injury was not too serious, but we're still constantly checking on him, simply as a precaution. It's a miracle he survived-"

"What about Steve?" Jo interrupted, "Did that….thing, survive? If he did…I'll kill him myself."

"Get in line, sweetheart," Dean snarled, "Me and Sammy…we'll get him first."

"Yes, Steve Carter survived. Or rather Steven Singer did."

"Steven Singer?" Dean demanded, turning curiously to Bobby, who had rapidly gone pale, all the colour instantly draining from his face.

"Stevie?" He whispered hoarsely, "But they told me…"

"He never died, Robert." A cop explained, walking through the door. "Detective Constable Thomas McGee," he introduced himself as he became the main focus of curious stares, "I was in charge of his case many years ago, when his entire family were killed under mysterious circumstances. He survived but was brought in here in critical condition. He was treated but we believe he was referred to a psychiatric institution-"

"Wait! You mean to say this guy, that complete and utter-", Dean made a frustrated noise; "They let him out when he was quite clearly not right in the head? So not right in the head, that he got hold of my little brother and nearly _**murdered**_ him!"

The policeman stared wordlessly at Dean before stuttering out, "With all due respect, sir, that was down to the institution he was residing in, but from what I've managed to find out, he actually escaped just over a couple of years ago, got a job using his fake alias, and seemed quite normal until just a year ago, when he met Kate Milligan, fell in love and was all set to settle down into the family until she was killed-"

"We need to talk to you about that, actually," Sam interrupted after a nod from Dean, "Adam admitted to us that Steve killed his mum, and that he was abusive to both him and his mum."

"Steven Singer killed Kate Milligan?" The policeman stared at the men before pulling out his walkie-talkie and proceeding to explain the new revelations to his superior.

_**XXX**_

The nurse from earlier charged back into the room, panting for breath and eventually managed to gasp out, "Adam's awake…thought…let ...you…know," She sank into the chair, breathing heavily.

Pausing only for a second to shrug off the woman's unprofessional manner, they both charged down to the Intensive Care Unit where they skidded to a stop outside the swing doors and gazed in, followed shortly by a panting Bobby and Ellen and Jo; both of whom were only slightly out of breath.

They all peered in the window, where a small figure was mostly covered in various tubes and wires, a tuft of dirty blonde hair the only recognisable feature of the youth due to the battered and bruised appearance he was now showing.

Sam and Dean entered first, followed moments later by the others, as they all approached the bed – Sam moving towards Adam's left side, Dean to the right, and the others hovering awkwardly near the foot of the bed.

Dean – showing a rare moment of affection – placed his hand on top of Adam's, being overly cautious of all the wires sticking out from his little brother. He stroked some hair from Adam's forehead, and noticing a large shaved section on the side of his head. He turned curiously to Sam who muttered, "Head injury. They would have had to shave his hair off to operate."

Adam's eyes fluttered open and he groaned weakly as he glanced around the room.

"Adam? Oh, thank god, buddy! We were so worried!" Dean burst out, "Are you ok?"

Adam nodded, grimacing when the movement aggravated the head wound and many of his other injuries. "Ok," he whispered hoarsely, "Where am I?"

Dean glanced worryingly at Sam, before explaining, "You're in the hospital, you had a bad fall."

Recognition seemed to flash in Adam's eyes, and he murmured, "I remember. Is Steve…what happened to him?"

"He's alive. The nurse said he's in a bad way as he took the most impact from the fall. The cops arrived too; one of them explained some stuff to us."

"About…Steve?" Adam asked curiously, stopping when he was overcome with a coughing fit, and he graciously accepted a glass of water from Sam and groaned with relief as the ice-cold water cooled down his fiery throat.

"Yup. Turns out he's not Steve Carter, but Steven Singer," Here Adam turned his head and gazed at Bobby in confusion, "And your mom treated him after his family was killed. He got a bit obsessed with her, but was referred to a psychiatric institution but he escaped and ended up with your mom."

"I didn't know." Adam murmured, face going even paler. "I don't think…my mom never said, so I don't know…" he weakly shrugged. "Bobby?"

"I know what you're going to ask, boy. All I can say is, yes, he _**was**_ my brother, but I thought he'd died when his family were attacked. I didn't know anything about him being institutionalized and I certainly didn't know he'd end up in your family. I'm sorry, Adam. If I'd of known-"

"Not your fault," Adam murmured, sleepily "His. He shouldn't have escaped. How'd his family die?"

"Papers said bear attack. I think it was a werewolf. Never got thee chance to investigate. Spent ages here waiting to see if Steven was ok." He sighed wearily, dragging his hand over his face, "I'm so sorry, boys."

"What did Adam just say, Bobby?" Sam demanded, "It wasn't your fault. There's no way you could have known what he was capable of."

"I know. Doesn't mean I still don't feel responsible." He shrugged.

"Who are they?" Adam suddenly demanded, pointing a shaking finger at Jo and Ellen. "Are they friends of Steve's?"

"God, no! Hi, kiddo, I'm Ellen, and this is my daughter, Joanna Beth-"

"Jo, momma, I told you, no full names unless I'm in trouble!" Jo snapped.

Ellen rolled his eyes, and approached Adam, placing a hand on his arm and gazing maternally at him, "I'm very sorry about everything that's happened, Adam. But if you ever need someone to talk to, or someone to complain to about those idgit brothers of yours, I'll be on the other end of the phone, waiting for you."

Adam couldn't explain it, but suddenly his eyes were filled with tears and he had extreme difficulty from preventing them from overflowing and soaking his bruised cheeks. Perhaps if was because this woman that he'd never met before was being so damn_** nice**_ to him, and she never even knew him. She was similar to his mom, he realised. Not in looks – his mom was small, skinny and always smiled….until Steve arrived, that is. This woman was taller, more muscled and looked as if she could be quite fierce. She was smiling at him now though, and that filled his heart with joy and relief that she'd be willing to accept him as he was, without questions or weird looks. He was proud to be a Winchester if that meant he could be with all these people. He may only be directly related to two of the people currently hovering near his bed, but the other three proved the point that blood didn't always matter, and although he could choose his friends, but not his family…he knew that if he could…he'd choose all of them to be both.

_**XXX**_

**A/N: ****Not a particularly long chapter, I apologise! We're also near the end I think! I'm aiming for around 10 chapters, if I can think of more ideas, so not long left!**

**Please review! And I'd like to thank everyone that's reviewed, and added me and **_**World's Apart**_** to their favourites and alerts! It's amazing and means a lot, and it's great to see the same people review and also, new ones as well! So, thank you!**

**And when the nurse came charging into the room to tell them Adam was awake, did anyone else have the urge to shout out, "TROLL IN THE DUNGEON! TROOOOOLL IN THE DUNGEON! Thought you ought to know!" No? Ok, just me that's insane then =P.**

**X **

**=)**

**P.S. Song title **_**I Guess You Can Say Things Are Getting Pretty Serious **_**is by Forever the Sickest Kids.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: ****Hey! Sorry, been busy with writing my own book! It's sort of going well…**

**Anyways, this is the second last chapter, and as I start back at uni next month (AAAAAAH THIRD YEAR! :O), I'm hoping to get the final chapter up before that!**

**And, on a completely unrelated topic, anyone seen Planet of the Apes yet? Tom Felton was amazing…=P**

**And the Hogwarts Express just passed my house! Yeah, it's a real train and goes by my house a few times a day. It's so cool, but they've changed the colour now…it's black!**

**Enjoy!**

_**Chapter 9 – Guts.**_

"So, Adam? How were things at home? With your mom and Steven?" The policewoman asked gently as the blonde youth ignored her and continued to fiddle with the frayed edges of his hospital blanket. "Adam?"

His eyes slowly focused on her and he blinked a few times before muttering, "Huh?"

"I said, how were things at home with your mom and Steven?" She repeated herself slowly. She knew he'd had a hard time lately, but if he could answer her questions, everything would be moving a lot quicker, and he could hopefully recuperate at home with his brothers.

"They were…ok."

"Ok?"

"Sorry, but I really don't want…can we do this later?" His eyes began to slowly flutter shut as a yawn escaped.

"I'm sorry, but now is really the best time. We can arrest Steven Singer on the grounds of kidnap with attempt to harm a minor, but unless you testify, he may get away with a short while in jail, or even community service." She explained.

"I don't want to testify." Adam stated firmly, eyes now firmly open, "I just want it all to go away."

"I understand that, Adam. But it would go away a lot quicker if you testify. He won't be able to harm you otherwise."

"He didn't mean it. That nurse said…what was it? Yeah, he was 'mentally unstable', so he didn't really know what he was doing, was he? As far as he was concerned, he was just helping the woman who treated him all those years ago. My mom was never to know he was a nutt- insane person." Adam muttered, shocking the woman as he'd only spoken a few words to her since she'd entered his room an hour ago.

"I understand that, Adam, but this whole thing could completely spiral out of control. Steven may get away with a light sentence or something else, as I've already mentioned and there's talk about placing you in a home or-"

"Excuse me?"

The policewoman could have kicked herself. Repeatedly. She knew the boy would have found out at some point…only she wasn't too sure she was the ideal person to have broken the news to him. His brothers would have been better. Or a doctor.

"Um…what I mean to say is-"

"They want to put me in a home? Why?" The teenager demanded angrily. "I'm fine with Sam and Dean!"

"That's the problem actually," she sighed, "You are under eighteen, therefore you can be placed in the care of the state, and you were seriously harmed whilst under Sam and Dean's care. Add that to the fact that neither of them hold a stable job with a reliable income, and the fact that they appear to live in motels and travel on the road a lot-"

"So what?" Adam didn't care that he currently sounded like a petulant five year old on the edge of throwing a massive temper tantrum, "They love me, and I love them. Does it really matter about the other stuff?"

"It appears it does. You're better leaving this discussion for later on, I believe someone is coming to talk to you about all this. I'm here to talk to you about Steven."

Adam sighed wearily, "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"How were things, up until your mother's death?"

"Sometimes good; sometimes bad." Adam shrugged, "We got on mostly, until he had some beer, or was just in a bad mood."

"Did he drink a lot?"

"Yeah. He could quite easily go through a six-pack a day. More depending on if he'd been sacked or not."

"Did that happen a lot?"

"Yeah, he couldn't hold a job, so he'd maybe last a week or a month, and then he'd be sacked and he'd come home angry and drunk."

"What happened then?"

"He'd drink some more, yell at mom, yell at me, and drink a bit more…" Adam trailed off and shrugged.

"Did he ever hit you?" The woman asked cautiously, noticing Adam tense.

He nodded, "And mom too."

"Adam, I'd like for you to tell me about the day your mom died. Can you do that?" She glanced down at her notepad, the pages rapidly filling up as the boy talked. She scanned over her notes, giving Adam a moment to think.

"I…I came home from school. I remember it was a nice day, sunny and quite warm and I stopped to talk to Mrs Smith…she's one of our neighbours, she's really nice. She offered me to stay…afterwards, but I wanted to find my dad."

"What did you find in the house?" She recognised Adam's attempts at trying to move the conversation away from Kate Milligan, so she subtly moved it back.

"The hallway was all messed up, and so was most of downstairs…I never went upstairs until…afterwards."

"Where did you find your mom?"

"She was…she was in the living room. On the floor." A shadow moved over his face. "There was blood everywhere, and she was breathing all funny. He had his hands around her neck and she was choking. She tried to hit him but he stopped her…" he gulped.

"How did he stop her, Adam?"

"He hit her. He wouldn't stop…he just kept hitting her and hitting her…she was screaming and there was blood everywhere, and then she stopped screaming and he just looked at me. He just looked at me and then he ran off, and I didn't know what to do! I just sat there, on the floor beside my mom and I couldn't look at her, that'd make it more real, you know? And then I felt for a pulse, like she'd shown me, and there wasn't one, and I couldn't remember much CPR but I tried and then I was screaming and…and…and….Mrs Smith came in when she heard me and she must of phoned for help cos the ambulance and the police turned up and…and…and-" He burst out into noisy sobs that shook his whole body, whilst the policewoman stared in shock.

That poor child had witnessed his mother's murder and been kidnapped by the very man that had done it. She gave him a moment to calm down, the odd hiccup escaping and the tears still flowing slowly down his pale face.

"Adam, you have to testify against Steven." The boy shuddered at his name, "Don't you see how dangerous he is?"

"No, I can't! I don't want to. He's not right in the head! So, can't you…put him somewhere and fix him? He was ok when he wasn't drunk, please! And he didn't try to kill me, he tried to push me to Dean but he slipped!" Adam begged, his eyes filling with tears. "I don't want to go up there in front of everyone and tell them what happened, I can't do it again! Please!"

"You want him to be institutionalized?" At Adam's nod, she frowned, "I suppose that would work, but it's really not up to me. If you really don't want to testify, then I can talk to his doctors…but the decision to commit him lies with them. If they think that he was in his right mind when everything occurred, then I can arrest him. If you don't testify, then he might not end up in jail."

"Can you just talk to them, please?"

"I'll try. And Adam? Thank you for telling me everything. I know it was hard, but I'm sure it was a relief to get it all off your chest. I'll let you rest now, you're obviously still in a lot of pain. Then you can get back to being with your brothers, okay?" She smiled at him as a fond grin appeared on his face at the mention of Sam and Dean, and she left him on the bed, passing the brothers on the way out.

"Is he ok?" The smaller one demanded.

"Yep." She nodded, smiling at his worry, "He told me everything, cried a bit. He won't testify."

"He _**won't**_ testify?" Dean repeated incredulously.

"Nope. Seems dead set on it. He's arguing that Steven wasn't in his right mind, therefore he can't be held responsible for his actions."

"That makes sense, I suppose." Sam interrupted at Dean's growl. "He will be too shy to go up in front of the court and everything."

"He's a great kid, watch out for him, ok?" The policewoman smiled, before the smile fell away to be replaced by a frown, "Oh, and someone from Social Services will be along shortly to talk to both of you, and Adam himself."

_**XXX**_

"Hello, Sam and Dean Winchester? I'm Miriam Woods from the Social Work Department. I'm here to talk about Adam Milligan."

Sam, Dean and Bobby jumped up as the woman entered the room.

Miriam gazed curiously at Bobby before demanding, "Robert Singer? Could you please wait outside, I'd like to talk to you afterwards, if possible?"

Bobby nodded and left the room in search of a nice, strong coffee.

"Hi," Miriam repeated, sitting down beside the two men, "I just want to talk to you about your brother-"

"You're not going to take him away from us, are you?" Dean asked quietly.

"Not unless that's the best option for the both of you and him. Now, how would you say your relationship was with Adam? Do you get on well?"

"Yeah," Dean nodded, "Sam helps him with his homework and stuff, and I was teaching him how to fix a car the other day."

"That's good. Would you say you fought a lot?"

"No more so than any other family. We prank each other a lot." Sam smiled politely, as Dean nodded in agreement.

"That's great, so you'd say you had a good relationship with him, then?"

"Certainly. He's an amazing kid, really funny and easy to get along with."

"And you only found out about him quite recently, am I correct?"

"Yeah, we found our dad's…diary…and we discovered we had a younger brother, so we tried to find him."

"Any idea why your father never told you about Adam?" Miriam tilted her head curiously.

Sam and Dean shared a brief panicked look, unnoticed by Miriam who was scribbling in her notepad.

"Uh, not sure. Well, Sammy and I are really close, so I'm guessing he'd maybe think it was best to keep Adam with his mom."

"Even so, it's rather curious to why he never at least introduced him to you. Spent holidays with him and such like."

"Well, as I said, I'm guessing Dad just thought it was for the best. As soon as we found out about Adam, we drove straight to Windom."

"And that's when you found out about Kate's death, am I correct?"

They nodded before Sam replied, "Yeah, it was about a week afterwards, I think, and he was living on his own in the house…we introduced ourselves and he came with us."

"Right. So how did he end up being kidnapped by Steven Singer?" The woman asked, suspicion lacing her voice.

"Adam wanted to go to the shop," Dean answered, "Me and Sammy always take it in turns, we didn't let Adam out without supervision because we didn't know him too well and with his mom's death and everything, we thought it'd be safer. But he reminded us he was sixteen, therefore an adult, so we said we'd let him go to the shop, down the road to get some milk, and if he did that fine, then we'd trust him more to go out and stuff…but then he was kidnapped."

"And Robert Singer is the brother of the man who kidnapped Adam." She referred to her notepad, "Doesn't that worry you in the slightest?"

"Not at all." Sam replied politely, inwardly gritting his teeth, "We've known Bobby all our lives, and he's never once hurt us in any way. We'd trust him with our lives."

"Ok. So, how does Adam's education work? It says here that you both are travelling on the road a lot."

"We grew up that way, with our dad, and Sammy went onto go to College, so it can be done. When Sammy had a big test coming up, I'd go with dad and he'd stay with Bobby so he could study. Bobby's like family to us. He _**is**_ family."

"So, if Adam were to stay with you, would you have him stay with Robert…Bobby…like Sam did?"

"Yes, if possible." Sam nodded.

"Right. I know that Adam was hoping to go to medical school to become a doctor, like his mom. Would you be willing to support him in that?"

"His mom was a nurse, not a doctor," Sam corrected her politely, "And yes, we would support him in whatever he decided to do after finishing school."

"That's great. Well…I think that's everything for now…" She glanced down at her notepad before looking back up at them, "If I have any further questions, I'll let you know, but otherwise, that's me. Thank you for your time, and I hope everything goes well." She shook their hands before leaving the room.

Bobby entered seconds later with a, "How did it go?"

"Not sure. Some of the questions were weird, and it felt like she was judging us the whole time." Dean sighed.

"She was though. We have to answer right or Adam will be shoved god knows where…"

_**XXX**_

"Hello, Adam, I'm Miriam Woods, I'm from the Social Services Department." The middle-aged, frizzy haired woman announced as she stepped into the room, closing the door behind her.

Adam jumped and gazed curiously at the woman before growling, "Sam and Dean have _**never**_ hurt me, I'm staying with them, so you can just go away!"

The woman stared at him before chuckling, "Adam, I do not want to take you away from your brothers, I'm just here to analyse the situation and see what's best for all the parties involved, ok? I don't just take children away from their families, and even then, I only do it when it's the best option available, ok?"

Adam scowled before nodding. "What do you want then?"

Miriam sat down on the single plastic chair situated beside Adam and took out a notepad and a fountain pen. "I just want to ask you some questions, ok? If you can't answer some, that's fine. I understand you've already talked to the police today, I'm sorry that you're going through so much at the one time."

"Yeah, can you just start so that we can get this over with? I'm tired and sore." He whined.

She smiled at him, "Sure. What's your relationship with your brothers? Do you get on better with one compared to the other?"

"I get on with them both really well. Sam helps me with school work more, he was at College for a bit. I want to go to college soon."

"That's good, Adam," She wrote something down on her notebook before looking back up at him, "And what about Dean?"

"He's great, he taught me how to protect myself from bullies, and he always has time for me. He let me help with fixing up the Impala – that's his car – and he said he's going to teach me to drive when I'm all better."

"That's great. Do any of you ever fight?"

Adam rolled his eyes, "We're brothers. Of course we fight." He looked up as the woman frowned, "No, not in a bad way. Just like normal kids fight with their brothers and sisters, like we change the channel when Sam's watching history stuff, or we hide Dean's car keys. It's all pranks."

"I used to do similar stuff with my sister. It's quite fun, isn't it?"

Adam managed to not roll his eyes this time. He was finding it hard to believe that the frumpy woman in front of him knew the meaning of the word 'fun'. Nevertheless, he nodded and waiting for the next question.

"Do Sam and Dean ever hit you? Like Steven used to?"

"No! They'd never do that. They hug me a lot. I have nightmares most nights, and Dean said Sammy used to get them a lot after his girlfriend died – that's why he left college – so he knows what to do with me."

"What are your nightmares about?"

"Mostly what happened to my mom and about Steve and that."

"Where do you live with Sam and Dean most of the time?" The social worker suddenly asked, and Adam frowned knowing that they'd now hit the important questions. The ones that'd determine where Adam would end up living."

"Motels mostly. We sometimes stay with Uncle Bobby."

"Uncle Bobby?"

"Yeah. Well, he's not our real uncle. I think he was friends with my dad. He looked after Sam and Dean a lot when they were kids. Their mom died when Sam was a baby, so Bobby looked after them when dad had to work."

"Do you like Bobby?"

"Yeah! He's amazing. He looks like he'd be a real nasty guy, but he just calls everyone 'idgits' and he's a great cook. Dean loves his pies."

"And if you're not at Bobby's, you said you lived in motels. Why is that?"

"Well, Sam and Dean move around a lot for their jobs. And there's loads of motels, I like it. It's like always being on vacation." Adam grinned.

"What do they work as?"

Adam bit his lip, quickly working out a cover-story. If he told her about the monsters, he'd been joining Steve in the loony bin. "Uh, basically odd jobs, really. They quite often just help people."

"Uh huh." She nodded slowly, causing Adam to think that she didn't quite believe him. "And what do you eat if you're in these motels? They don't usually come with food, are they not self-catering?"

Adam nodded, "We eat fine. We're always near a mall or a convenience store, if not, there's always fast food." He smirked at the woman's shocked looked. Oh, this was _**too**_ much fun! He sighed, realising he shouldn't joke _**too **_much, "But I'm only allowed that as a treat. Sam's on this weird healthy eating thing, so he's been buying loads of fruit and stuff. It annoys Dean, but when I started, all the junk food went out, so we're all on it now." Ok, so it wasn't completely true, but a little white lie never hurt anyone…right?

"That's good. As long as you're getting a healthy, nutritional balanced diet. You're still a growing boy, after all. What about school? If you move around a lot, how does your education work?"

Adam froze. He'd forgot about _**that**_ particular question. He'd been up all night creating appropriate answers, and he'd completely forgot about the whole education thing.

"Your brothers mentioned earlier that you were wanting to go to college? Become a doctor like your mom?"

"My mom was a nurse," Adam corrected the social worker, "And yeah, I want to be a doctor. I like helping people."

"Well, how do you expect to achieve that if you're travelling on the road with your brother?"

"I…I…don't know." Adam nearly burst out crying. He had been so close to living with his brothers permanently, and with one question, he'd screwed it up so spectacularly, he might as well be packing his bags now.

"That's ok, Adam. Well, I think that's all the questions I have for now. Thank you, and I hope you get better soon." She scribbled down something, smiled at Adam one more time before leaving the room as Adam snarled and threw his head back on the pillow, ignoring the tears threatening to fall down his face.

_**XXXX**_

**A/N: ****Oh, I am a cruel, heartless individual. Right? =P**

**Right. This is the second last chapter….and it was a long one! And the final chapter will be like an epilogue type thing. It will be set a while after this one, and I'll start writing it soon.**

**Please review, I'm receiving a lot of author/story alerts etc, but not many reviews. Thanks to everyone who does review, especially **_**TheLadyPendragon **_**and **_**Ellie Clemons**_**, amongst others. You are the ones who continue to leave amazing reviews, and it's to you who I keep on writing. Thanks! =)**

**X**

**P.S. Chapter title **_**Guts**_** is by **_**All Time Low**_**…their new album **_**Dirty Work**_** is amazing and I was listening to it as I typed this!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: *****Sings The Final Countdown* Well guys, here it is! The Final Chapter! The one you've been waiting for! Well, those who've read and those who've reviewed anyways!**

**I apologise for the delay...I had a **_**slight**_** disagreement with my laptop...AGAIN. Me and technology...honestly. Basically, there was no internet connection, so I pressed random buttons before eventually deciding to restart the evil thing...and now it won't switch on. And makes a wailing, beeping noise when I try to switch it on. *glares***

**Today was awesome! I went to Collectormania in Glasgow! It was so much fun! I got Harry Potter merch, Supernatural merch...so pretty. I need a new room just for posters...wonder if that'll go down well. And now I'm laughing hysterically as my brother has his friend over and they're doing Karoke on the playstation...I'm cackling away to myself whilst writing this. My ears hurt...my poor ears.**

**As usual, I want to thank everyone who's read this! Rachie for always reading it before I submitted and especially to: **_**Ellie Clemons **_**and **_**TheLadyPendragon**_**. You can have a virtual hug AND a virtual cookie for being awesome and always reviewing. Thank you also to **_**Caz21**_**, I tried to reply to your message, but it said that you'd disabled the private messaging feature! I'm glad you've enjoyed this!**

**I don't think there will be a sequel for **_**World's Apart**_**, simply due to my Harry Potter fics and my story. I may decide to do one in the future, who knows. But for now, there won't be a sequel. I found Adam amazing to write, and Dean too. Sam was a bit difficult at first, but I got round that! **

**Thanks for reading (and reviewing!), and I hope you enjoy this final chapter of **_**World's Apart**_**!**

**Chapter 10- Under A Paper Moon. **

**Epilogue.**

**18 Months Later.**

Sam turned to Dean with a sad smile on his face. Dean caught the middle Winchester's eye and they both turned to gaze at the baby of the family who was crouched down in front of one of the many graves cluttering up the local cemetary in Windom. From their position by the Impala, neither man could tell how Adam was coping on his first visit to Kate's grave. They could just about hear him murmuring softly, not the words, just the melodic sound of his voice flowing through the wind.

They gave him a few seconds longer before slowly wandering up behind him, and each of them placing a hand on a slightly shaking shoulder, the owner of which sniffed wetly as they did so.

"You ok, buddy?" Dean asked quietly.

"Yeah," Adam sniffed again, "It's just hard, you know?"

"I know, buddy, I know." Dean sighed, squeezing the youth's shoulder.

"It's nice here...sort of." Adam gestured to the large willow tree, towering above the three men, even above Sam, creating oddly shaped shadows on the freshly mown grass. The slight breeze caused leaves to fly around their ankles, and their hair to blow in their eyes, as the sky above them slowly darkened.

"I know what you mean," Sam replied, "Peaceful. Fitting for your mom especially, after all she's been through."

Adam nodded, "It's all weird this. Everything's normal now. No bad guys are after us...for now. We're safe."

And indeed they were. The trio had visited Steven Singer in Meadow Oak Institution earlier in that week, and they were relieved to have discovered that Steve was doing extremely well there. He wouldn't be let out for many years, but nevertheless, he appeared to be extremely enjoying himself, and had even made friends with the other residents. There was even a rumor floating about that he had began a particularly interesting relationship (under the watchful eyes of the carers) with Enis Lloyd, a resident who had been there for the past five years. Bobby kept in regular contact with his brother, determined to keep in contact with him this time, and not let him slip off the rails again.

Jo and Ellen had also been regular visits to Bobby's house. They came over every Sunday for the day, ended by a spectacular feast prepared by Bobby. It took longer than expected for the meal to be prepared, as Bobby had to keep whacking Dean with the spoon when he was caught dipping his finger into the pie and licking it.

Sam, Dean and Adam had moved into Bobby's once Adam had been discharged from the hospital, under strict orders that Adam 'made sure to relax and rest, and have absolutely no strenuous activity until he's fully recovered', (here Dean sniggered immaturely), before said nurse thrust a bundle of drugs at Sam, deeming him to be the _**slightly **_more responisble adult.

They loved it at Bobby's. They were taking a couple of months off of hunting simply to relax, taking an extended vacation to get to know Adam, and for Adam to get to know all them. Surprisingly, he got on rather well with Jo - much to Dean's jealousy, before Adam kindly pointed out that he saw the blonde woman simply as a sister, and that 'she's like really old Dean, your age I think. It's just wrong!' - here Dean glared at the kid whilst Sam sniggered and fell off his chair.

It wasn't all fun and games though. Adam had taken so much time off from school with everything that had happened with Kate and Steve and recovering, that he spent the majority of the vacation time catching up on school notes borrowed from friends, and was then kindly given the opportunity to sit his exams with the rest of his school year, despite missing out on so much, and he was currently in the process of applying to various colleges. Encouraged by both Sam and Dean, he sat up until the early hours of the morning typing up essays on Sam's laptop, and then praying for an acceptance into medical school. A few weeks later, he recieved an email congraulating him on his entry into Standford School of Medicine, and he was going to be leaving in a few months to start his college life. He'd worried over this briefly, asking Sam and Dean for their permission, saying that if they wanted him to help with hunting, he could always go to college later. Here, Sam refrained from smacking him on the head and instead, pushed down his exasperation and turned into patience, before calmly replying, "Don't put it off, Adam. It's one of my greatest regrets. But then, if I hadn't of left, we probably wouldn't have met you. Just don't put it off till later, you might never do it then."

Adam only smiled at Sam then, before nodding and saying that of course he'd accept the position, only if they promised to visit him, and let him hunt during the holidays.

It had been a while after Adam was nearly fully recovered before he worked up the courage to ask if he could visit his mom's grave. There wasn't much of a body left to bury, nevertheless, it was revealed that Bobby had kindly organised the funeral, and at Kate's resting place was a simple, marble plaque that stated her full name; _'Katherine Louise Milligan_ - _beloved mother to Adam. You left this world far too soon, But filled it with love and hope, I'll smile from under a paper moon, And it'll give me the strength to cope. I'll miss you now, I'll miss you tomorrow, I missed you yesterday too. From when the sun rises, to when the sun falls, I'll always be thinking of you.'_

Adam crouched down further, so that his knees were nearly touching the ground before reaching out and brushing his hand over the engraved words. Tears starting to flow down his pale face, and Sam and Dean each squeezed a shoulder a final time before turning to leave Adam to grieve for his mom alone. He reached out a hand to grab Sam's trouser leg before they could move too far, however, and motioned that he didn't want to be left alone.

The two men crouched down closer to Adam, even then still towering high above him. They both placed a hand back on Adam's shoulder, rubbing in a comforting, circular motion as Adam let out a shuddering sob before sighing, "Hey, mom. This is Sam and Dean, my brothers. Dad's other sons. I wanted to let you know that I'm safe, and I'm not angry with you. I don't know if you knew about them. I wanted to say thank you, for protecting me from Steve. Did you know he's my Uncle Bobby's brother? Well, he's not really my Uncle. He's one of dad's friends, but he's amazing! Did you know dad was dead too, mom?" He let out another shuddering breath. "I hope you're together now, I know he loved you as much as you loved him. I just wanted to let you know I'm safe, and that everthing's ok now. I got into medical school! I want to make you proud, mom. I love you so much. Sleep tight, mom." He pressed his fingers to his lips, kissed them, and then placed his hand back on the gravestone, his fingers covering his mom's name.

The three Winchester men crowded round the gravestone, the youngest caught up in memories of Kate Milligan, his mind flicking through the book that was his memories as the two eldest ones simply stood in silence, as the light from the silver moon above them highlighted them, creating shadows on the ground and illuminating the three men standing side by side. And they would stay that way forever.

_**XXXXXXX**_

**A/N: ****Wow, I suck at writing poetry. I literally wrote that in about 10 minutes...sorry! **

**I hoped you enjoyed reading **_**World's Apart**_**, as much as I enjoyed writing it. I just felt like Adam's character never got much screen time (HE'S STILL IN HELL YOU MUPPETS! GET HIM OUT OF THERE!), so I wrote this! **

**Thanks for all the amazing reviews, and thank you to everyone who read it! *gives you all a massive hug* THANK YOU!**

**P.S. ****Chapter song is **_**Under A Paper Moon**_** by **_**All Time Low**_**. According to Google, the idea of the paper moon represents a 'beautiful dream' which is apparently a French idea. Cool, eh?**

**P.P.S Standford School of Medicine is real. I had far too much fun researching medical schools in the US! =)**


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